Intervention With Cerebral Embolic Protection in TEVAR: Gaseous Protection

Vascular brain infarction (VBI) occurs in 67% of patients undergoing TEVAR. Overt stroke occurs in 13% of these patients and 88% of patients suffer from neurocognitive impairment. Cerebral air embolisation during the stent-graft deployment phase of TEVAR may be a cause of VBI. Standard treatment to de-air stent-grafts is through the use of a saline flush. This study aims to investigate whether carbon-dioxide or saline is the better fluid to de-air TEVAR stent-grafts prior to insertion in to the patient and compare VBI rate in the carbon-dioxide group and saline group.