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As part of Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, we offer leading-edge diagnostics and care for aortic disease while providing compassionate care every step of the way.
Our Approach to Managing Aortic Care
What is aortic disease?
The aorta is the body’s largest artery, delivering oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body. It can be damaged due to smoking, genetic conditions and some infections. We work closely with specialists across our health system to evaluate, monitor and treat conditions including:
- Aortic dissection
- Aortic aneurysm
- Aortic stenosis
- Inflammatory aneurysm
- Aortic intramural hematoma (IMH)
- Penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer (PAU)
- Aortic rupture
- Genetic disorders, such as Marfan syndrome
At our Comprehensive Aortic Center, you’ll have a multidisciplinary team of specialists working together to offer you the complete and personalized care you need.
Advanced diagnostics to assess aortic disease
Our cardiovascular specialists use the latest technology to diagnose aortic disease quickly and accurately. Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute is one of the state’s largest cardiovascular centers. Here, you can feel confident you’re receiving exceptional care from an experienced team of imaging specialists.
Minimally invasive endovascular procedures
Minimally invasive treatments, including endovascular technologies, give clinicians precise tools to treat aortic diseases while reducing pain, minimizing blood loss, lowering the risk for infection and providing faster recovery time.
Types of aortic surgery we perform
If you need surgery to repair or replace part of your aorta, our surgeons will treat you using the latest approaches and technologies in open and endovascular surgery. Aortic surgeries our team performs include:
An ascending aorta replacement is a traditional open-heart surgery that replaces the first section of your aorta with a synthetic graft, typically to repair an aortic aneurysm.
During a Bentall procedure, or aortic root placement, we replace the ascending aorta and the valve between the left ventricle of your heart and your aorta.
With an aortic arch replacement, your surgeon performs either a traditional open or minimally invasive endovascular repair of your aortic arch, preserving flow to the innominate left carotid and left subclavian arteries arising from the arch.
A descending aortic repair is performed either as a traditional open or a minimally invasive endovascular repair (TEVAR) of the aorta in the chest.
During a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair, the entire descending thoracic aorta and abdominal aorta is replaced, preserving flow to branch arteries feeding the kidneys, liver and intestines. Novel branched aortic endografts now allow this repair to be accomplished endovascularly.
We are experts in both open and endovascular repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) to prevent rupture. We also perform the largest number of complex AAA repairs in the region, using fenestrated and branched stent grafts.
Aortic care that’s close to home
As a leader in aortic care in our region, the Comprehensive Aortic Center allows us to focus on collaborative care among cardiac and vascular surgeons, radiologists and cardiologists. Our convenient location is accessible to both patients and clinicians, and we are building a strong foundation for future expansion.
Robust research and participation in advanced clinical trials
At Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, our research scientists work closely with our clinicians every day for a comprehensive, collaborative approach to research.
Clinical trials contribute to the ongoing advancement of aortic care in many ways. They provide data on the safety and efficacy of new treatments and medications, allow us to make informed health care decisions and help bring new treatments to bear on challenging aortic diseases.
Current clinical trials
- GORE® EXCLUDER® Thoracoabdominal Branch Endoprosthesis Post-Approval Study
- JAGUAR industry-sponsored randomized clinical trial enrolling patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms
- “A Prospective and Retrospective, Multi-Centre, Post-Market, Non-Interventional Study of Terumo Aortic Cardiovascular Patches, and Knitted and Woven Grafts.” Sponsor Terumo Aortic, Bolton Medical Inc., Fla.