A Study of Pullout Forces of the Components of Modular Multi-manufacturer Hybrid Endografts Used for Aortic Aneurysm Repair

3-D rendering of computerized tomography showing hostile iliac anatomy.

Intraoperative angiogram of the same patient in Fig. 1, in whom the aneurysm was treated with a hybrid stent-graft system made of a Zenith Cook body and an Anaconda Vascutek limb.

Technique of measurement of the overlap between the body and the extension of a stent-graft system.

Test apparatus: the frame supports a cylinder containing the albumin solution, into which the stent is submerged. An anchor point at the bottom of the cylinder fixes the distal stent, and the proximal stent is held by a wire attached to the electronic tension load cell. The latter is connected to the spool of the electric motor applying variable forces to the stents.

Wet pullout force for non-hybrid body-to-limb extension modular endografts. Each of the Anaconda bodies (28 and 30) was tested with the recommended limb diameters of 13mm and 15mm, respectively.

Wet pullout forces for hybrid body-to-limb extension modular endografts. The Anaconda body 28mm was tested with the recommended limb diameters of 13mm and 15mm, respectively.

Pullout forces in albumin solution for the 30-mm and 40-mm overlap of each limb system.

Pullout forces of the helical iliac branched graft with Anaconda limb extension 13mm, 15mm and Zenith 12mm limb extensions using a 17-mm overlap. Pullout forces were greater using Anaconda 13mm vs. Anaconda 15mm (P=0.005); and Anaconda 15mm vs. Zenith 12mm (P=0.017).