Center for Aortic Disease

The aorta is the largest artery in the body.  It delivers blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

When aortic disease is present, the aorta can tear (or “dissect”) or dilate forming an aneurysm. These conditions may lead to rupture of the aorta, which may have fatal results.  Patients with conditions such as Marfan’s syndrome or those with bicuspid aortic valves are at higher risk for developing aortic disease, and need to be screened.
 
Treatment of acute aortic disease is often challenging, and requires the proper integration of surgical, interventional (stents) and medical techniques to achieve the best outcome possible for patients.

Our Experience
At MedStar Heart Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center our physicians, have experience with both surgical and endovascular management of acute aortic dissections.  Endovascular management refers to using surgical scopes to treat disease, a minimally-invasive procedure that reduces recovery times and reduces the rates of infection.

We treat the largest volume of patients with aortic disease (both aneurysm and dissection) in the Washington metropolitan area.

Treatment of aortic disease at MedStar Heart Institute includes:

• A multidisciplinary approach with cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and vascular surgeons
• Surgical, endovascular and medical management treatments are available, and decided upon by a combined team on a case by case basis
• Endovascular techniques are performed at MedStar Heart Institute with excellent outcomes

Technologies for Treatment
Our surgeons are expertly trained, and have experience managing the most difficult cases of aortic dissection and aneurysm, including percutaneously placed endovascular grafts for aortic disease.