Use of a remotely steerable robotic catheter in a branched endovascular aortic graft

We report the use of a remotely steerable catheter to treat kinked renal bridging stents 8 months after branched endovascular repair of a type III thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. Conventional techniques using single, coaxial, and manually steerable sheaths proved too unstable to provide the support required to pass a wire against resistance through the kinked stent. A remotely steerable robotic catheter provided sufficient precision and stability to cross the kink and reline it with an additional stent, restoring renal perfusion. This technology can help achieve precise and stable introducer sheath position. Further evaluation is necessary to understand the wider applications. (J Vasc Surg 2012;55:223-5.)