Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD) is a major cause of disability, loss of work, and lifestyle changes. The natural history of PAD is often characterized by slow progression in symptoms over time. However, 70% of patients will remain stable or…
* Disclosure: Dr. Coselli serves as a consultant for Vascutek Ltd., a subsidiary of Terumo Corporation. Frequently, and in a variety of clinical settings, cardiovascular surgeons encounter occlusive disease involving the branches arising from the aortic arch. As a result…
The development of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has dramatically revolutionized the field of cardiovascular surgery. Since Parodi's first description of an intraluminal stent graft device for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms, endovascular device technology has rapidly evolved to…
Occurring more frequently than ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, aortic dissection is the most common catastrophe involving the aorta. Because major aortic branch occlusion can complicate the clinical presentation of patients with acute dissection and thus mimic many other acute medical…
Acute aortic dissection is one of the most common catastrophes involving the aorta. Dissection of the aorta is characterized by the separation of the aortic media by pulsatile blood, with variable extents of proximal and distal extension along the aorta…
Introduction Aortic aneurysm is defined as a localized dilation of the aorta that is at least 50% greater than that of nondiseased adjacent aorta. In the distal aorta, namely the descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta, most aneurysms form as a…
The history of cardioaortic surgery has been replete with new techniques for ascending and aortic arch repairs since 1956, when Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey replaced the ascending aorta with a homograft using cardiac bypass. In 1957, DeBakey and colleagues…
Functional Anatomy of the Aortic Root The aortic root is the anatomic segment between the left ventricle and the ascending aorta. It contains the aortic valve and other anatomic elements, which function as a unit. The aortic root has several…
At the turn of the 20th century, Dr. Ernest A. Codman (1869-1940) was rejected by the Boston medical community for his maverick ideas supporting the evaluation and publication of surgical outcomes. Codman eventually founded his own hospital dedicated to the…
Despite meticulous adherence to presently known principles of myocardial protection, perioperative myocardial damage related to ischemia-reperfusion injury continues to occur after cardiac operations that have been performed in a technically adequate manner. Ischemia-reperfusion injury associated with surgically induced myocardial ischemia…