By: Diana Barnes-Brown for Heart1New research unveiled at the 17th Annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy has led health care specialists to consider a newer, safer alternative to open surgery for the repair of ruptured aortic aneurisms.
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Did you know?
Where the aorta travels:
The aorta has the shape of a walking cane: It starts from the left ventricle of the heart with an ascending part, an arch, and a descending part that travels through the chest and continues into the abdomen. From the aorta, branches of arteries supply the body with oxygen and nutrients.
The symptoms of an aortic aneurysm:
A common complaint of an aortic aneurysm is a vague pain in the chest or abdomen.
An aortic aneurysm in the chest cavity can cause a persistent cough or hoarseness.
An aortic aneurysm in the abdomen can cause gastrointestinal bleeding.
The symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm:
Sudden, intense pain in the back, abdomen or chest.
Shaking, dizziness, fainting, sweating, rapid heartbeat and sudden weakness.
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Aortic aneurysms are a very dangerous condition in which a portion of the aorta (the main artery that carries blood away from the heart) becomes stretched thin and bulges. The greatest danger of aneurysms is that once the aortic artery is stretched thin, the risk of rupture and hemorrhage, possibly leading to death, is much greater.
It is estimated that four of every five patients who experience ruptured aortic aneurisms will die either while on the way to the hospital or during open surgery. Aortic aneurysms occur more often in men over 60, and to a lesser extent in women of the same age. Additional risk factors include smoking, diets high in fat and cholesterol, high blood pressure and certain infections or pre-existing conditions.
The new procedure, called endovascular repair, does not involve the trauma of opening the chest cavity. Instead, a tube called an endograph is threaded into the body by way of the groin and sewn into place on either side of the rupture, allowing blood to bypass the weak section and resume normal flow patterns.
Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York reviewed and presented the data of 476 patients who had undergone endovascular repair. They found 91 patients, or only 19 percent of those who received the treatment, died, as opposed to a total of up to 50 percent of those who had undergone open surgery to repair similar ruptures.
These findings represent a significant increase in survival rates for patients with ruptured aortic aneurysms, noted the doctors. At the same time, not all people are eligible for the procedure because endographs are pre-manufactured in particular sizes, and may not fit all patients’ anatomy.
Because aneurysms are so dangerous in the case of a rupture, however, early detection of aneurisms is still the best way to prevent potentially fatal consequences. The disorder can be detected with a simple 10-minute screening test, and it is estimated that aneurisms can be surgically corrected in more than 95 percent of people, if found before they rupture.
