Endoluminal Repair of Aortic Aneurysms
| The Division of Angiography and Cardiovascular Surgery are proud to be able to offer the use of thoracic and abdominal stent grafts. The Health Sciences Center is part of an investigational protocol using stent grafts to treat select patients with descending thoracic aortic aneurysms and all appropriate candidates with infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. |
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Patients with known aneurysms are first evaluated in the Vascular Surgery Clinic and in the Angiography Suite. Patients are screened initially with a CT scan. Subsequently, patients undergo an angiogram of the area of interest. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is sometimes used to carefully measure the diameter of the aorta in areas of critical importance. |
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Patients who are found to meet the selection criteria will be scheduled for a combined interventional radiology and cardiovascular surgery procedure. This procedure is performed in an operating room with a compatible angiography suite in the Division of Angiography and Interventional Radiology. Access is gained into both common femoral arteries using vascular cut down techniques. The stent graft device is introduced and advanced under fluoroscopic guidance to the level of the aneurysm. |
| Once the device has been carefully positioned at the site of aneurysm it is unsheathed and springs open to a predetermined size. |
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A stent graft is a metal mesh with surgical grade cloth material sutured to it. The stent grafts used in this study have a modular design. This means that if the initial device does not completely cover the aneurysm, additional segments can be added until a satisfactory result is obtained. Even aneurysms that extent down into the iliac bifurcation can be managed with a bifurcated stent graft. |
| Patients are followed closely with CT scans and clinical evaluation. The use of stentgrafts for thoracic aortic aneurysms remains investigational, but inital results are promising. The use of stent grafts for abdominal aortic aneurysms appears to be very beneficial in appropriately selected patients. |
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