Fig. 1

A A tight surgical knot was made between the centermost stent struts of the 36/45 mm aortic extender endoprosthesis (Gore Excluder, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Arizona, USA). B The tip of the delivery catheter was bent so that the wiring was visible and cut. C The deployment wire was cut from the proximal end after opening the stent graft handle. D The graft with the wire was removed from the device. E Both the 18F and 22F dilator tips were cut. F The 18F dilator was placed back into the 18F sheath, in contact with the stent graft leaving the deployment wire outside the sheath. G The 18F sheath, dilator and stent graft were inserted as a package into the 22F sheath. H Demonstration of the opened CP after the 22F introducer sheath was retracted