The management of patients with vascular disease has drastically changed during the past ten to fifteen years. New technological advances have markedly simplified both diagnosing and treating patients.

Noninvasive techniques using Doppler and Ultrasound have become the standard way of establishing the presence of arterial blockages in many areas of the body (click here to see an example). Arteriograms (dye studies) that were previously employed can be largely avoided, since the location and extent of blockages in the arteries is established quickly and painlessly in our vascular laboratory. Patients can then proceed directly to treatment.

The time of large incisions and highly morbid procedures is quickly coming to an end. We are now able to open blockages in many areas of the body by means of new techniques called endovascular therapy. These techniques include balloon angioplasty and stenting. Diseased vessels are approached from the inside and are opened without the need for major surgical incisions. Patients have a much shorter hospital stay and results have been gratifying. Click here to see this process.

When blockages are too extensive, employing a combination of traditional surgical techniques and new endovascular modalities can lessen the size of incisions.

A very exciting new development has occurred in the treatment of aneurysms. This disease entity is an enlargement of a vessel that can threaten the patient by either rupturing or clotting off. Aneurysms can be treated endovascularly by placing a stented graft and excluding the diseased segment of the artery. Click here to see this process.

At The Vascular Center, we employ all of the latest techniques and have pioneered a number of these methods.