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An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a bulge in the aorta which can continue to grow like a balloon until it bursts, becoming a life-threatening emergency. The normal aorta is 2.0-2.3cm in diameter, is aneurysmal when it g rows 50% more than its normal size, and the risk of rupture increases rapidly when it is greater than 4-5cm.
AAAs are more common in men, and caused by cigarette smoking, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure or infection. Many aneurysms are without symptoms at the time of diagnosis, but can undergo rapid or unpredictable growth and rupture. An aneurysm can be diagnosed by physical exam, and imaged or monitored with ultrasound, CT, MRI or arteriogram.
Repair by traditional open surgery requires a large incision in the abdominal wall and clamping of the aorta, cutting it open, and sewing in an aortic graft bypass.
There is now an alternative to traditional surgery in many patients. An endovascular endograft can repair the AAA from the inside of the vessel by using a catheter pre-fitted with a stent, customize-sized to the individual patient’s aneurysm. The hospital  stay is shorter, usually 2-3days, rather than a week or more, and the complications of surgery are fewer. A specially trained Vascular Surgeon and Interventional-Radiology team uses X-ray guidance in the operating suite, to position the graft in the aneurysm through small incisions in the groin vessels.
To date, the RCND Radiology and Surgical team at Medical City Dallas Hospital have placed more endovascular endografts to repair AAA than any other team in Dallas.
Physicians can call RCND at 972-566-7866, to arrange an evaluation for your patient to see if the endograft procedure is appropriate. Images can be evaluated, and frequently customized packaged stents can be manufactured from measurements made from a CT scan.
(Images courtesy of Ancure™ Endograft Systems)
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