Outcomes of the Gore® Excluder® Iliac Branch Endoprosthesis Using Self Expanding or Balloon-Expandable Stent Grafts for the Internal Iliac Artery Component.

Objective: The GORE^® EXCLUDER^® Iliac Branch Endoprosthesis (IBE; W.L. Gore & Associates, Flagstaff, Arizona) was developed to be used in combination with a self-expanding stent graft (SESG) for the internal iliac artery (IIA) bridging stent. Balloon-expandable stent grafts (BESGs) are an alternative for the IIA, offering advantages in sizing, device tracking, precision, and lower profile delivery. We compared the performance of SESG and BESG when used as the IIA bridging stent in patients undergoing EVAR with IBE.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of consecutive patients who underwent EVAR with IBE implantation at a single center from October 2016 to May 2021. Anatomic and procedural characteristics were recorded via chart review and computed tomography (CT) postprocessing software (Vitrea^® v7.14). Devices were assigned to SESG vs. BESG groups based on the type of device landing into the most distal IIA segment. Analysis was performed per device to account for patients undergoing bilateral IBE. The primary endpoint was IIA patency, and secondary endpoint was IBE-related endoleak.

Results: During the study period, 48 IBE devices were implanted in 41 patients (mean age 71.1 years). All IBE devices were implanted in conjunction with an infrarenal endograft. There were 24 devices in each of the self-expanding internal iliac component (SE-IIC) and balloon-expandable internal iliac component (BE-IIC) groups. The BE-IIC group had smaller diameter IIA target vessels (11.6±2.0 mm vs. 8.4±1.7 mm, p<0.001). Mean follow-up was 525 days. Loss of IIA patency occurred in 2 SESG devices (8.33%) at 73 and 180 days postprocedure, and in zero BESG devices, however, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.16). There was 1 IBE-related endoleak requiring reintervention during the study period. A BESG device required reintervention due to Type 3 endoleak at 284 days.

Conclusions: There were no significant differences in outcomes between SESG and BESG when used for the IIA bridging stent in EVAR with IBE. The BESGs were associated with using 2 IIA bridging stents and were more often deployed in smaller IIA target arteries. Retrospective study design and small sample size may limit the generalizability of our findings.

Clinical impact: This series compares postoperative and midterm outcomes of self expanding stent grafts and balloon expandable stent grafts (BESG) when used as the internal iliac stent graft as part of a Gore® Excluder® Iliac Branch Endoprosthesis (IBE). With similar outcomes between the two stent-grafts, our series suggests that some of the advantages of BESG, device sizing, tracking, deployment, and profile, may be able to be leveraged without impacting the mid-term performance of the IBE.