Contact: Tim Gehret
843.792.2626
April 27, 2006
CHARLESTON -- More than 200,000 Americans are diagnosed with aortic abdominal aneurysm (AAA), which refers to a weakness and ballooning out of the body's largest artery. It is often called a silent killer because patients typically show no symptoms until an aneurysm ruptures. Once that happens, as many as 90 per cent of these patients may die, despite all attempts.
MUSC vascular surgeon Bruce Elliott, M.D. and interventional radiologist Claudio Schonholz, MD. are the first in the state to implant an intraluminal AAA pressure sensor device, that allows the pressure inside a patient's repaired aneurysm to be monitored non-invasively.
This is extremely significant in that monitoring aortic aneurysms after they're repaired utilizing the new ìstent graftsî usually requires that the patient undergo two CT scans a year- for life. This can be costly and the scan dye can be toxic to the kidneys. Now, by implanting a microchip into the aneurysm sac, doctors can monitor the pressure with a device that looks like a ìhigh-tech tennis racketî.
Two of the key benefits are that doctors can repeat monitoring more often than with a CT scan avoiding radiation and scan dye. The procedure is also a lot cheaper alternative.
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