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Great Advancements Have Been Made in Vascular
Surgery
One in four people in the
elderly age group suffers from heart and circulatory disease.
Until recently, they faced the prospect of a major open surgical
procedure to correct the circulatory problems. Today, at South
Central, endovascular surgeon Dr. Vinay Kumar threads a thin
endovascular catheter through the circulatory system, and diagnoses
and repairs the diseased area from inside the artery with minimal
discomfort to the patient and a very short hospital stay.
According to Dr. Kumar, "Vascular
problems arise due to clogging of the blood vessels that carry
blood away from the heart to various parts of the body. Depending
on the site, this may lead to serious problems, such as stroke
or gangrene. The endovascular technology available at South Central
can safely and effectively diagnose and treat these problems."
Endovascular procedures can be
diagnostic as well as therapeutic. Diagnostically, a catheter
is introduced through the femoral artery and guided into the
specific artery and then dye is injected to visualize any blockage.
Therapeutically, Dr. Kumar performs the following procedures
at South Central:
- Endoluminal grafting— a specially made graft supported with
stents is introduced within an aneurysm or an artery for the
repair. This is accomplished without making a major surgical
incision.
- Angioplasty— a balloon on the tip of the catheter
is inflated at a blocked site to open the lumen of the artery.
Balloon angioplasty can be applied to nearly all the blood vessels
in the body and often prevents conventional surgery.
- Stent— a wire mesh is inserted over the balloon
and when the balloon is inflated the stent holds the artery open.
- Thrombolysis— a clot-dissolving medicine is injected
within a blocked artery to dissolve the clots and help open an
artery.
- Coil occlusion— major communications blockage between
the artery and the vein, which usually causes swelling of an
arm or leg, can be treated by blocking them with microscopic
coils.
Dr. Kumar joined South Central
Regional Medical Center's medical staff in September of last
year. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and is
a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. In the year 2000,
he was included in the list of America's Best Surgeons. For more
information about endovascular surgery at South Central, call
The Endovascular Center at 426-2008.
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