Aortic Disease
The aorta is your largest artery and is responsible
for carrying blood from your heart to the rest
of your body. One form of aortic disease, known
as a dissection, is a tear in the wall of the
artery. If the dissection is located in the chest,
it is usually associated with chest pain, and
if in the abdomen, is associated with abdominal
pain.
Another type of aortic disease, called an aneurysm,
is a section of blood vessels that bulges or balloons
out abnormally in the wall of the artery, a vein,
or the heart. If you have an aortic aneurysm,
you are in constant danger of a rupture or leakage.
Treatment options for these diseases include
medication, surgery and certain catheterization-based
techniques. For further health information, please
see the articles on aortic
dissection (risks, symptoms, treatment options)and
thoracic aortic
aneurysm (risks, symptoms, treatment options).
Our Services
Penn Vascular Services can repair aortic and iliac
aneurysms using minimally invasive techniques.
Our program provides comprehensive in- and outpatient
consultative services including the monitoring
and repair of endovascular stent grafting and
conventional surgery, as well as bypass procedures.
Specialists with Penn Vascular Services utilize
state-of-the-art techniques to provide the best
care for patients and reduce their hospital stay
to sometimes less than a day.
For patients with aneurysms involving the descending
thoracic aortic aneurysm, surgery generally is
not required unless the aneurysm is larger than
approxamitely five and a half centimeters wide.
The Vascular Center at Pennsylvania Hospital is
experienced with repairing these aneurysms.
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