Abdominal Aortic Aneuryism Repair

Nearly 15,000 people die each year from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a ballooning weakness in the aortic wall which comes from the heart supplying blood to the rest of the body. Often clinically silent before rupture, this condition can be successfully screened using physical exam and a simple ultrasound. If detected early, repair eliminates this silent killer 95 percent of the time.

Physicians at Yale-New Haven Heart and Vascular Center treat more aneurysms than anyone else in the state of Connecticut. At Yale-New Haven Heart and Vascular Center, groundbreaking advancements are being developed by the same physicians who treat your condition. 

Using an abdominal or flank incision, open surgical repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms allows complete removal of the aneurysm with replacement using a piece of synthetic tubing. We also offer a minimally invasive approach to endovascular repair called endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR), where the aneurysm is reached via catheters in the groin instead of through a large incision. Most patients return home the following day. 

The quality and safety of open and endovascular AAA surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital is extraordinary. During 2007-2008, our physicians have performed elective endovascular repair for patients having an AAA with 0 percent mortality. Patients are well informed with the latest information in helping to choose between an open or endovascular repair of their AAA. Through decades of training and clinical trials, Yale-New Haven Heart and Vascular physicians provide the newest and most cutting-edge technology first to patients at YNHH and often years before other hospitals in the area have access.

Endovascular Repair of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm
and Thoracic Aortic Dissection

Aneurysms, or weakening and enlargement of the aortic wall, do not only occur in the abdomen.  The aorta in the chest can also become weakened, and enlarge (aneurysm) or tear (dissection).  When this condition occurs very near the heart, cardiac surgeons often perform an open, traditional operation, but when the condition occurs  in the middle chest, the same minimally invasive techniques used to treat AAA can be applied in the thoracic aorta as well. 

Physicians at Yale-New Haven Heart and Vascular Center have performed more thoracic endovascular aneurysm and dissection repairs than any other center in the state, and we do so as part of a collaborative team involving specialists from disciplines including vascular surgery, cardiac surgery and interventional radiology.