Improve your vascular health with advanced innovation at Memorial Hermann
February is American Heart Month, serving as a reminder to not ignore your vascular health – meaning your arteries, veins and vessels. Dr. Gustavo Oderich is a world-renowned authority on vascular and endovascular surgery and one of 10 surgeons in the country to have U.S. FDA-approved access to industry standard and custom-made stents to treat complex aortic aneurysms. He discusses the importance of vascular health and the innovative treatments available for conditions like aortic aneurysms.
Q: What is an aortic aneurysm?
A: Your aorta is the largest artery that carries blood from your heart to the rest of your body and its organs, running from your heart down the center of the chest to the abdomen. An aortic aneurysm occurs when there’s a bulging area on the wall of the aorta. The larger the bulge, the greater the risk of rupture. Aortic aneurysm rupture has very high mortality, with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms being the 15th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the 10th leading cause of death in men over 55 (according to the Society for Vascular Surgery). However, not all aneurysms rupture; many are treatable with preventative procedures.
Q: How are aortic aneurysms diagnosed?
A: If you have an aortic aneurysm, you most likely will not have symptoms – making it easy for them to go undetected. If you do have symptoms, the most common are throbbing pain in the belly or chest, back pain, or difficulty breathing, depending on the type of aneurysm you have. If your aneurysm ruptures, you’ll experience sudden and severe pain in the belly or lower back, for which you should call 911 and seek immediate medical attention.
Many aortic aneurysms are accidentally caught by other screenings. Imaging such as angiograms, MRIs, CT scans or ultrasounds can detect an aneurysm and vascular disease in general. If you have a family history of aneurysms (especially a first-degree sibling), are male and over the age of 50 and/or smoke cigarettes, you should talk with your doctor about scheduling regular screenings to ensure an aneurysm doesn’t go undetected.
Q: How do you treat aortic aneurysms?
A: Some aortic aneurysms need surgery to repair, and there are two main types – open surgery and endovascular surgery. Open surgery requires a long incision, where surgeons stop the blood flow in the aorta to remove the aneurysm and replace it with a graft. Open surgeries to treat aneurysms are complex and oftentimes pose higher risks, such as kidney failure, bleeding, paralysis or death. However, surgical methods used by the Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Texas Medical Center since 1992 have dramatically reduced the incidence of paralysis from 15% to less than 3%. The recovery process with open surgery is also quite long and isn’t suitable for patients with certain risk factors.
With endovascular surgery, think of the procedure like building a ship inside of a bottle, where the surgeon makes a small incision in the groin and replaces the aneurysm with stents that are connected to each other. These stent procedures can be done faster and there’s no need for a long incision or interruption of blood flow. Endovascular aortic surgery also reduces mortality and the risk of complications. It is associated with shorter hospital stays and faster recovery times.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has a rich history in cardiovascular treatment, having made some of the first major breakthroughs in repairing aortic aneurysms. Memorial Hermann and UT-Health’s Vascular and Endovascular Surgery program provides one of the highest quality of outcomes, patient care, and industry-changing innovation and research in Houston.
In particular, our Aortic Center of Excellence uses advanced technology to treat patients experiencing complex aneurysms, especially those with a high risk of rupture. Through early access granted by the FDA, we’re able to provide a broader range of treatment options with advanced technology. This type of technology is available in other countries, but not yet widely available in the U.S. We’re tasked with testing this technology to move the approval process along and provide the highest standard of care for patients with complex aortic conditions.
Q: How do I improve my vascular health?
A: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is one of the most important things you can do to improve your vascular health and reduce your risk of an aortic aneurysm.
Undergoing aortic repair surgery can be intimidating, but it’s also extremely important not to delay care before it’s too late, especially if you have risk factors for vascular disease or conditions.
Be proactive about your cardiovascular health and receive exceptional care at Memorial Hermann by visiting memorialhermann.org/ heart