The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ is offering a new type of minimally invasive procedure for patients with a complex form of abdominal aortic aneurysm.
The surgeons perform the procedure by using a fenestrated stent graft, specifically designed for patients whose aneurysms cannot be repaired using traditional minimally invasive techniques. A major advantage of this procedure is that is has a much shorter recovery time and fewer complications.
“It’s a significant advantage to our patients with these complex aneurysms to be able to offer treatment with the fenestrated graft,” said Daniel Char, M.D., Director of Vascular Surgery at Valley. “Now we can offer a safer, minimally invasive solution for many more patients diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysms.” Dr. Char and Joshua Bernheim, M.D., are among only a handful of vascular surgeons in the Central/Northern New Jersey areas trained on this advanced type of endovascular aneurysm repair.
Most patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm are treated with the traditional endovascular graft. In this procedure, a graft or stent is placed inside the vessel. This graft shields the weak section of the aorta and makes a new path for the blood to flow through. This is a minimally invasive procedure which requires small incisions in the groin using local anaesthesia.
However, approximately 10 percent of patients suffering from abdominal aortic aneurysm have an affected area that is close to branching arteries for kidneys, small bowel or liver. In such patients, the traditional endovascular graft procedure cannot be used and often, open adnominal surgery remains the only option.
The Zenith® Fenestrated AAA Endovascular Graft by Cook Medical helps solve this problem. Each stent graft is custom-made from a 3-D computer model of the patient’s anatomy, based on a spiral CT scan. Fenestrations are positioned in the stent graft precisely where the renal or bowel arteries branch off. This ensures that the blood can flow to the kidneys and nearby organs.
Source: Valley Health System
Image Credit: Cook Medical Incorporated, Bloomington, Indiana.
