Comprehensive treatment of the thoracic aorta
Cirugía Cardiaca
Comprehensive treatment of the thoracic aorta
What is the aorta?
The aorta is an artery of considerable size which collects the blood from the heart and distributes it to all the organs of the body through their branches. It is divided into five segments:
- The aortic root
- The ascending aorta
- The arch or aortic arch
- The descending thoracic aorta The abdominal aorta.
What is an aortic aneurysm?
Is a dilation of a particular area of the aorta. Aneurysms affecting the root, ascending aorta, arch, and the start of the descending aorta are called thoracic aortic aneurysms.
The main danger of this dilation is the risk of breakage in the segments dilated.
The disease is so severe that almost half of the patients who were breaking an aneurysm die before reaching the hospital, and of those who come to be treated, a high percentage passes away.
However, when surgery is performed on a scheduled basis, the mortality is very low. That is why it is so important to make an early diagnosis and adequate follow-up of these patients and improve their prognosis in a meaningful way.
How is it diagnosed an aortic aneurysm?
The majority of patients with aortic aneurysm are asymptomatic. It is usually detected by chance when you perform an imaging study for some other reason. On other occasions, due to the location or size can produce any symptoms, or be accompanied by other heart conditions, which facilitates the diagnosis.
When the aneurysm affects, for example, to the ascending aorta and/or root, can distort the aortic valve and cause a malfunction of the same, producing symptoms of failure heart.
Aneurysms in the area of arc, they may compress surrounding structures, causing loss of voice or difficulty swallowing
The most useful tests for the diagnosis of aneurysms of the aorta are the computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). You are able to in addition to measuring the size of the aneurysm (diameter) and its extension.
It is of vital importance to complete the study with an echocardiogram to check the status of cardiac structures.
How is an aneurysm?
It is fundamental to a good blood pressure control and not smoking. We can't prevent or cure with pharmacological treatment.
Surgery is advised when the aneurysm reaches a certain size, or because the growth is very fast and in a short time.
What is the surgery?
The surgery is on track to replace the segment of aorta dilated by a segment of a tube prosthetic.
En función de la localización del aneurisma se emplearán técnicas distintas, pudiendo optar por tratamiento quirúrgicos abiertos o tratamientos endovasculares, con unos abordajes minimamente invasivos.
QUERY
Take care of your heart
Contact us for a personalized consultation. We are here to help you improve your heart health with the more advanced therapies.
