Current evidence on the safety and efficacy of endovascular stent–graft placement in thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections indicates that it is a suitable alternative to surgery in appropriately selected patients, provided that the normal arrangements are in place for consent, audit and clinical governance.
Clinicians should enter all patients having endovascular stent–graft placement in thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections into the thoracic stent–graft registry supported by the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Society of Interventional Radiology.
The procedure should be performed by a multidisciplinary team with access to facilities for cardiothoracic surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass.