Inclusion criteria
The predefined inclusion criteria were cases underwent surgical repair for TAAAD complicated with CM confirmed by contrast-enhanced CT or carotid duplex scan prior operation. The reports in which we could extract the exact number of cases with TAAAD complicated with CM from the total amount of reported cases were included. It was essential that included studies should document the data on operation and outcomes, including mortality, neurological outcomes and follow-up. Only the most recent report from each centre was accepted in order to avoid duplicate data. Language was limited to articles written in English.