Treatment of aortic aneurysm

An aneurysms results from a vassels’ wall weakening accompanied by a loss of elasticity. It can occur in any blood vessels, but the most common arise in the aorta.

Aortic aneurysms may involve: 

• Thoracic aorta
• Abdominal aortic
• Both thoracical and abdominal aortic at the same time (thoracoabdominal aneurysm).
   

Aneurysm can be treated with two types of surgical approaches: traditional and minimally invasive ones. The latter one is the EndoVascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR).

Through the traditional approach, enlarged or weakened sections of aorta or iliac arteries are replaced by a plastic prosthesis, made of polyester (Dacron) or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Whereas, for what concerns the EndoVascular technique, a prosthesis is inserted into the aorta entering the femoral artery.

Every year, Fondazione Poliambulanza’s Vascular Surgery Department is involved in more than a hundred aortic aneurysm treatments, the majority of which is performed with the mini-invasive Endovascular technique.

Broadly speaking, the two approaches are mutually exclusive, but Fondazione Poliambulanza’s multidisciplinary Aortic Team’s specialists makes use of an hybrid technique, merging their surgical and endovascular competencies. As a result:

• An endoprosthesis is inserted where the aneurysm is localized;
• Starting from aorta, blood vessels’ deviations are induced near the heart by the cardiac surgeon, so as to minimize surgical risks and reduce the operation’s invasiveness.

According to Agena’s data of 2015 regarding abdominal aortic aneurysm’s treatment, Fondazione Poliambulanza is ranked among the top ten Italian Vascular Surgeries having to treat more than a hundred of clinical whose mortality rate is verging to zero, while, on average, in other Italian hospitals it reaches 2 per cent.