Scott & White Healthcare today teleconferenced one of the world's first live international surgical procedures to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm to conference attendees in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The meeting, CICE (Current Issues in Comparative Education) 2011, is one of the globe's largest vascular surgery events and includes over 2,000 attendees. The procedure demonstrated the use of an endograft device called a repositionable endoprosthesis.
Cliff Buckley, M.D., director, division of vascular surgery at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, Texas, and a team of nurses and technician, fellows, residents, and anesthesia personnel successfully performed the instructional, minimally-invasive procedure inside one of the hospital's endovascular suites. "The function of the endoprosthesis is to internally reline the abdominal aorta and isolate the diseased segment from blood circulation," said Dr. Buckley.
According to Dr. Buckley, an aortic aneurysm is a bulge in a section of the aorta, the body's main artery. The aorta carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Because the section with the aneurysm is overstretched and weak, it can burst. If the aorta bursts, it can cause serious bleeding that can quickly lead to death.
The CICE meeting focuses on updating and training attendees in various areas of vascular therapy (arterial and venous, elective and emergency). Attendees include interventional cardiologists and radiologists, vascular surgeons, x-ray technicians and nurses engaged in endovascular and vascular procedures, medical students, residents, fellows and apprentices interested in keeping track of the newest developments in minimally-invasive medicine.
Traditional treatment for diseases of the abdominal aorta has involved higher-risk surgical procedures requiring a large incision in the abdomen to place a synthetic graft to repair the diseased artery, which can result in long hospital stays as well as a long recovery.
The patient who underwent the procedure for the live broadcast to Brazil was suffering from an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and an endograft was used to repair it. This endoprosthesis repair device is a minimally-invasive option for managing patients with aneurysms of the abdominal aorta and is repositionable, which is an advantage when repairing aneurysms in patients with difficult arterial anatomy.
Dr. Buckley went on to say that "the device is comprised of a graft with an outer self-expanding support structure that is both flexible and durable. It was inserted through a small incision in the patient's groin using a catheter, which facilitates passage and access through narrow or hostile arterial anatomies."
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