Surgeons use modified ‘frozen elephant trunk’ technique for first heart surgery of its kind

elephant trunk (FET) technique to treat a middle-aged heart patient, sharing their experience in JACC: Case Reports.[1] This is believed to be the first time surgeons have ever employed this particular approach.

Follow-up imaging results. (A to C) Axial images, (D) multiplanar reconstruction, and (E) 3D reconstruction demonstrate durable aneurysm exclusion, complete thrombosis of the false lumen, and absence of endoleak. Images and captions courtesy of JACC: Case Reports and Rinaldi et al. 

When the devices needed for a specific procedure were not available, a group of surgeons got creative. Their one-of-a-kind approach was a success, and the patient has experienced no complications.