Continuum of Care for Vascular DiseaseThe Center for Vascular Disease is dedicated to providing the latest technology and comprehensive care using an integrated and collaborative approach. The Center for Vascular Disease strives to provide quality patient care, improve clinical outcomes, decrease complications, decrease re-admission rates and enhance community-based care by collaborating with referring physicians.
“Our vascular surgeons provide the full spectrum of care, including endovascular treatments (minimally invasive catheter procedures) and traditional open surgical options,” says Mark K. Eskandari, MD. "We are also very involved in ongoing clinical research trials to ensure that our patients continue to receive the most innovative care in the country." |
Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair
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CREST-2: Carotid Artery Research
The carotid arteries are major blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain, neck and face. CREST-2 is a clinical trial for people who have narrowing of their carotid artery, without stroke warning signs such as mini-strokes. CREST-2 is designed to compare three different methods of stroke prevention to find the safest and most effective treatment: intensive medical management alone or in combination with procedures to reopen the carotid artery (carotid endarterectomy or carotid stenting).
“The drugs that society has available today are much more advanced than the last time medical therapy was studied in CREST-1. The goal of CREST-2, and the reason Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is involved, is to evaluate the effectiveness of current medical therapy for patients at risk of stroke due to carotid artery disease,” says Mark K. Eskandari, MD. |
Regenerative Medicine
Through Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Karen J. Ho, MD, is involved in two regenerative medicine clinical trials for patients with critical limb ischemia who have no other options for treatment. This type of regenerative medicine seeks to help the body repair itself by forming new blood vessels in the lower extremities. The trials are testing the safety and efficacy of the treatments, which involve DNA injections into the lower legs.
“Given the potential benefit of regenerative medicine, conducting these clinical trials is important to determine if these therapies are safe and effective so that ultimately they can be approved and available to all patients with peripheral arterial disease,” says Dr. Ho. |
Patient Experience: Heriberto Santiago
Heriberto Santiago was a typical kid growing up in Puerto Rico when, at age 14, he was diagnosed with a complex, uncommon condition called arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangle of blood vessels that causes the blood in the arteries to dump directly into the veins without a network of capillaries in between.
Fast forward to Chicago in the mid ‘90s, Mr. Santiago was being treated at Northwestern Medicine by Robert L. Vogelzang, MD, who performed a series of embolizations to block the blood vessels supplying the AVM. Recently, Mr. Santiago began feeling pain and discomfort and went immediately to see Dr. Vogelzang, who discovered that the AVM had grown in size and caused an aneurysm, or bulge, in an artery behind Mr. Santiago’s knee, which placed his leg at a very high risk for an amputation. Mr. Santiago was then referred to Heron E. Rodriguez, MD, who performed a complex arterial reconstruction restoring normal blood flow to his leg. “Dr. Rodriguez and his staff did an awesome job,” says Mr. Santiago. “I wish that everybody could get the kind of health care that Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute gave me. I grew up in a place where this type of care was not available.” |
Quality Vein Care
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Patient Outcomes: Vascular Disease
At Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, we evaluate our clinical outcomes so that we can fully understand how our treatments and procedures benefit our patients. We regularly review and evaluate our clinical outcomes and based on the results, develop methods to monitor and improve the health care we offer to our heart and vascular patients.
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Incidence of Post-Operative Complications Following Vascular Surgery Lower than What is Expected* for Our Patients Given Their Severity of IllnessCalendar Year 2016Source: National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). All NSQIP data is based on a sampling methodology.
*NSQIP calculates an expected rate based on our patient population’s risk of adverse health outcomes; the risk is related to patient- and surgery-specific characteristics. In this case lower is better. |
30-Day Mortality Following Vascular Surgery Same as What is Expected* for Our Patients Given Their Severity of Illness
Calendar Year 2016
Source: National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). All NSQIP data is based on a sampling methodology.
*NSQIP calculates an expected rate based on our patient population’s risk of adverse health outcomes; the risk is related to patient- and surgery-specific characteristics. In this case lower is better. |
30-Day Complication Rate Following Vascular Surgery Lower than What is Expected* for Our Patients Given Their Severity of IllnessCalendar Year 2016
Source: National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). All NSQIP data is based on a sampling methodology.
*NSQIP calculates an expected rate based on our patient population’s risk of adverse health outcomes; the risk is related to patient- and surgery-specific characteristics. In this case lower is better. |
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