Isaiah Austin is an inspiration to us all, and particularly to patients with Marfans Syndrome.

Isaiah was a star basketball player at Baylor University in Texas.  Last year, he completed an all-star performance as the center on the men’s basketball team. All he had ever wanted to do and worked tirelessly was to play professional basketball in the NBA.  He had the natural athletic talent and physical skills to play in the NBA.... Continue reading.

What does an Aortic Surgeon really do?

What is a typical day like for an Aortic Surgeon?

I get these questions a lot from patients and readers of BadAorta. Understandably, from a patient’s perspective, it is somewhat mysterious what we do and how we do it.

Consistent with the spirit and mission of BadAorta - to pull the veil back on all things Aorta - I wanted to share with you what a typical... Continue reading.

We all know about those hybrid cars.

When Toyota introduced the Prius in 2008, we all marveled at the exciting new opportunities afforded by the revolutionary concept of seamlessly combining an electric, rechargeable engine with a combustible engine.

Similarly, there are remarkable benefits to patients with aortic disease when we combine endovascular aortic stenting with conventional open aortic surgery.

Voila! Thus the concept of hybrid aortic procedures is born.

Differences between endovascular and open... Continue reading.

Welcome to another edition of “As the Aorta Grows and Rips”…

Do you see anything wrong with this CAT scan image of a patient’s aorta?

This patient has a 6cm aortic root aneurysm.

It appears as the bulge in the ascending aorta.

For comparison, here is a normal aortic root.

We have discussed the aortic root anatomy which you can check out here.

As you can recall, the coronary arteries (both left... Continue reading.

I want to share with you - patients who have been diagnosed with an aortic problem - information about your disease that I tell all of my patients.

It is important that, in addition to understanding the complex anatomy and subtle decision-making process regarding the treatment of aortic diseases, that you also understand the implications of what you are being told.

Shock and awe

Being diagnosed with an aortic problem usually comes as... Continue reading.