Aortic Program at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute
The Aortic Program focuses on early detection, monitoring and treatment of various aortic diseases using national guidelines as well as emergent procedures on patients with acute aortic syndrome. The goal, whenever possible, is to avoid life-threatening emergencies that result in significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates. Conditions affecting the aorta are serious, but through early diagnosis and treatment, lifestyle modifications, and ongoing medical care, patients under the care of aortic specialists can continue to enjoy normal, productive lives.
Aortic disease is the 13th leading cause of death in Western Countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 43,000 patients die annually from aortic disease.
Current treatment options for aortic diseases are the result of many years of innovation. For more than 30 years, Cedars-Sinai physicians have addressed the effects of injury and disease on this vital artery. Accelerated technical progress, particularly since 2000, has resulted in advanced medical and surgical approaches to aortic disease. In the early history of aortic surgery, national morbidity and mortality rates were high. Today, even with the most difficult aortic conditions, our high-risk patients respond well to the innovative treatment options available at the Cedars-Sinai Aortic Program.
The aortic care program was developed in 1988 by Alfredo Trento, MD, who led advances in thoracic aortic surgery at Cedars-Sinai. In 2010, Ali Khoynezhad, MD, Director of Thoracic Aortic Surgery, established the multi-disciplinary Aortic Program at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Khoynezhad is a national trainer in complex and minimal-invasive aortic procedures and international scholar in aortic pathologies.
A Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Team Approach
A specific treatment strategy, designed to address all aspects of aortic, cardiac and vascular disease, is developed for each individual based on their diagnostic test results. Patients and their families are key members of this team approach to treatment, which includes medical therapy, lifestyle modifications, ongoing monitoring, as well as elective procedures and operations.
Aortic disease is complex, degenerative, and typically progressive in nature. Other heart conditions may also be present requiring a comprehensive and individualistic approach for each patient. Under the leadership of Bruce Gewertz, MD, Surgeon-In-Chief of the Department of Surgery and Eduardo Marban, MD, Director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, the Aortic Program offers expertise spanning all aspects of the basic science, genetic, medical and surgical treatment of aortic disease.
Physicians in cardiology, cardiac surgery, vascular and endovascular surgery, interventional radiology, and medical genetics provide comprehensive and complementary expertise at the Aortic Program. Within the center, the connective tissue disorder clinic offers counseling to patients with connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan Syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve disease, Loeys-Dietz syndrome and more. Patients with connective tissue disorders are at an increased risk for aortic disease. Imaging and nuclear medicine physicians perform the diagnostic testing required for accurate measurement and assessment of each individual.
In the 2012-13 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals issue, Cedars-Sinai once again ranked among America's best in Cardiology and Heart Surgery.
