HOSPITAL HAS NEW WAY TO TREAT ANEURYSMS

• Endovascular repair allows a surgeon to repair an aneurysm from inside the artery.

By B. Ray Owen

A new system to repair aneurysms could have patients out of the hospital in two days instead of six weeks, according to the surgeon using the system.

Dr. Robert Ruess, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Southeast Missouri Hospital, announced Monday the addition of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair to the hospital's services.

Southeast Missouri Hospital is the first hospital and Ruess is the first local surgeon approved to offer the new FDA-approved technique.

The abdominal aorta, Ruess explained, is the main artery supplying blood to the lower body. An aneurysm is an abnormal swelling of an artery.

Traditionally, repair surgery requires hospitalization of at least a week and recuperation of six to eight weeks.

"With this new procedure, patients may be out of the hospital within two days," Reuss said. "It allows a surgeon to repair an aneurysm from inside the artery, avoiding a major abdominal incision."

Takes the pressure off

The treatment involves inserting a stent graph to take the place of the abdominal aorta.

"The stent graph is implanted in the abdominal aorta through small incisions in the groin," said Ruess. "The stent graph is inserted through an opening in the femoral artery. After the procedure, blood passes through the stent graph, taking pressure off the weakened spot in the aorta."

"Because there is no abdominal incision," Ruess said, "there is less pain, and, a patient generally is able to go home from the hospital within two days."

Ruess has been studying and working with the Boone County Hospital at Columbia, Mo., to prepare for the procedure here.

"Equipment is on order, and we should be performing the procedure here within two to three weeks," he said.

About 15,000 people a year die from ruptured aortic aneurysms in the United States. Many people never realize they have an aneurysm until it ruptures, but a diagnosis can be confirmed with procedures including ultrasonography, CT scan and MRI.

"Most aneurysms are caused by hypertension," Ruess said. "There are some other factors heredity, nicotine use, elevated cholesterol and lipids. Once an aneurysm develops, it continues to grow. The more it grows, the more risk there is for a rupture."