Ascending thoracic endovascular aortic repair with chimney stent graft to free vein coronary bypass for ruptured type A aortic dissection.

The standard treatment for ruptured type A aortic dissection is open surgical repair. We have described the case of a frail patient with home oxygen-dependent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and prior free vein circumflex coronary artery bypass who had presented with a ruptured type A aortic dissection and was deemed too high risk for open surgery. On July 7, 2017, the patient underwent emergent endovascular ruptured ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm repair with a chimney stent graft to a free vein coronary bypass that originated from the ascending thoracic aorta.

Complete zone 0-10 aortic endovascular reconstruction.

To the best of our knowledge, the present report is the first on the safety and efficacy of complete endovascular aortic reconstruction from zone 0 to 10 using a standardized approach and parallel stent graft configurations in high-risk patients considered unfit for surgery. During a 7-year period, five patients with complex thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms and dissections involving zone 0-10 presented with rupture (n = 1; 20%), were symptomatic (n = 2; 40%), or had an aortic pseudoaneurysm (n = 2; 40%) and underwent complete endovascular zone 0-10 reconstruction using off-the-shelf stent grafts in parallel configurations that included chimneys, periscopes, and endovascular docking stations. The zone 0-5 complete arch chimney thoracic endovascular repair included chimneys that extended from the ascending thoracic aorta to the innominate, left common carotid, and left subclavian arteries and a thoracic stent graft extending from zone 0 to 5.

Outcomes of the V-Healthy education and awareness program that empowers high school students to understand and diagnose vascular disease risk factors.

Introduction: V-Healthy (Center for Vascular Awareness Inc, Latham NY) is a grassroots vascular health education and awareness campaign that educates high school students about the importance of the vascular disease risks they face today and its impact decades later, and empowers health care professionals and schoolteachers to lead vascular health education in their communities. This study evaluates the impact of the V-Healthy initiative in empowering and educating adolescents about the implications of vascular disease risk factors and in creating a blueprint for a community outreach program that focuses on vascular health and disease education and awareness.

Methods: The V-Healthy program is an initiative that connects community vascular health care professionals and educators with high school students, for a day of vascular health education.

Transcaval embolization of a type I gutter endoleak after three-vessel chimney endovascular aneurysm repair.

Chimney endovascular aneurysm repair provides an endovascular treatment for complex aortic aneurysms. However, type I gutter endoleaks can complicate this approach and prevent full aneurysm exclusion. Treatment of these leaks can be challenging.

Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Ultrasonography remains the screening modality of choice for abdominal aortic aneurysms despite many advances in imaging modalities. Several randomized trials were performed that demonstrated the effectiveness of ultrasound-based screening to reduce aneurysm-related mortality. Ultrasound is both cost effective and low risk.