Two-year results of a multicenter prospective observational study of the Zenith Spiral-Z limb deployed in the external iliac artery during endovascular aneurysm repair

Background: Limited data is available on the use of a polyester graft limb with a helical stent configuration deployed in the external iliac artery (EIA) during endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), so we prospectively analyzed the efficacy of the Zenith Spiral-Z limb deployed in the EIA. Methods and Results: Patients undergoing EVAR using a Zenith stent-graft and Spiral-Z limb deployed in the EIA were prospectively registered in 24 Japanese institutions from June 2017 to November 2017. In total, 65 patients (74 limbs) (mean age: 77.1±8.0 years, 87.7% men, mean abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) diameter: 51.9±7.2mm, mean iliac artery aneurysm (IAA) diameter: 38.3±10.0mm) were registered and followed up. The most common reason for deployment in the EIA was a common IAA (43 limbs, 58.1%), and 8 limbs (10.8%) had a bare nitinol stent placed at the Spiral-Z limb. A total of 61 patients (70 limbs) completed a 24-month follow-up. There were 2 Spiral-Z limb stenoses and 1 occlusion, leading to a primary patency of 95.5% and a secondary patency of 100%, at 24 months. Buttock claudication occurred in 24.3% of the limbs treated at 1 month but decreased to 4.3% at 24 months. Conclusions: Our multicenter prospective study showed that Spiral-Z limb deployed in the EIA was associated with satisfactory results and seems to be a durable option, even in the era of iliac branch devices.