Comprehensive Care for Aortic Aneurysms
Putting Your Mind at Ease
Learning you have an aortic aneurysm can be frightening. Our goal is to help you live life as normally as possible. NewYork-Presbyterian offers individualized screening and follow-up plans. Your team educates you about your health, so you can understand and feel comfortable with our recommendations. If you do not yet need surgery, you may receive medication and advice about lifestyle modification, along with imaging every few months or yearly as needed. Our team is accessible and ready to answer any questions you may have.
Advanced Aortic Imaging
Accurate imaging is fundamental to diagnose an aortic aneurysm and determine if and when you need a repair. Our aortic disease programs feature the latest cardiothoracic imaging technologies to diagnose and monitor aortic aneurysms, including techniques such as transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) angiography, and sophisticated techniques that combine echocardiography, CT scanning, and methods that take into account the motion of the heart during imaging.
Minimally Invasive Endovascular Aneurysm Repair
We take the least invasive approach possible to repair aortic aneurysms, enabling you to recover faster. Our doctors are experts in “endovascular stent grafting,” a minimally invasive technique for treating aortic aneurysms and dissections. During these procedures, a stent graft — a synthetic tube — is threaded into your aorta through a catheter inserted into a blood vessel in your groin and advanced to the site of the aneurysm. The stent graft relines the diseased part of the aorta to repair the aortic wall and prevent rupture of the aneurysm. By avoiding an incision in the chest or abdomen, your recovery is faster and more comfortable. Because of our extensive experience in this area, NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the few centers in the country offering endovascular stent repairs of complex aortic aneurysms.
Surgical Aneurysm Repair
Our surgeons also have extensive experience with traditional "open" surgical repair of aortic aneurysms and dissections for patients who need those operations. During an open surgical procedure, the damaged part of your aorta is replaced with a plastic or fabric graft. Some patients are best treated with a “hybrid” procedure, which combines open surgical and endovascular techniques.
Care for Complex Aneurysms
We have exceptional expertise treating older individuals and those with complex medical conditions, including connective tissue disorders such as Marfan's syndrome that increase the risk of aortic aneurysms. NewYork-Presbyterian was one of 19 international surgery centers chosen to participate in the Aortic Valve Operative Outcomes in Marfan Patients Study Group, which reported the successful use of valve-sparing aortic aneurysm surgery in these patients.
Clinical Trial Opportunities
Our programs include leaders in research who are evaluating the use of custom-designed stent grafts to treat thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (those located in the aorta in both the chest and abdomen) to make treatment safer for patients when open surgery may be too risky. Through this study and other clinical trials that we are conducting, you may have access to innovative treatment options that may not be widely available elsewhere.