Carotid Access for Aortic Interventions: Genius or Madness?

Abstract

The endovascular-first approach remains is omnipresent ubiquitous amongst in the vascular community today. However, several key issues have ensued remain, one of which involves the choice of vessel site. Although the transfemoral route is the first-line approach has been established as first-line approach in endovascular interventions of the aorta (endovascular aortic repair [EVAR], thoracic endovascular aortic repair [TEVAR], and transcatheter aortic valve implantation [TAVI]), there remains a select some group of patients who are contraindicated for the aforementioned this as well as for alternatives vessel routes such as the transapical approach. The carotid artery, first used in aortic aneurysm repair, is potential alternative for these patients. Emerging evidence appears to support this relatively unpopular approach in EVAR, TEVAR and TAVI. Sporadic case reports and series have reported the transcarotid approach for EVAR and TEVAR, and collectively show relatively low rates of mortality and neurological complications. For TAVI, the carotid artery appears to be a safe and effective route of access compared to the transapical and even the transfemoral approach. However, technical aspects have not been ironed out; there are procedural variations, for example, in type of anaesthesia used, intraoperative neurological monitoring and choice of common carotid artery. The overall quality of evidence is poor, since the majority of it consists of case reports, and retrospective and prospective cohort studies. Although a randomised controlled trial (RCT) is needed to compare the transcarotid against the transfemoral approach, this is unlikely to take place because of ethical considerations. Therefore, the authors recommend future research to consider cohort studies with adequately powered sample sizes to establish any firm conclusions. However, as transcarotid procedures are performed infrequently, most institutions will have relatively small sample sizes. Therefore, it is recommended that collaborative efforts are undertaken to increase the overall sample size in the cohort analysis.