Initial Single-Center Experience With the Knickerbocker Technique During Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair to Block Retrograde False Lumen Flow in Patients With Type B Aortic Dissection.

Persistent, retrograde false lumen perfusion from distal re-entries following thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for Stanford type B aortic dissection, may lead to progressive, aneurysmal dilatation. Controlled, stent graft-assisted balloon dilatation of the true lumen in the distal descending aorta (i.e. Knickerbocker technique) during TEVAR effectively excludes the false lumen from persistent flow resulting in positive aortic remodeling in our small cohort of patients, and hence potentially eliminates the risk of late post-dissection aneurysm formation in the descending thoracic aorta.