Center for Aortic Disease
The Center for Aortic Disease at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute® at Abbott Northwestern Hospital provides a multidisciplinary approach in caring for patients with complex aortic conditions. Our aortic program focuses on early detection, monitoring and current treatments of aortic disease.
Common Aortic disorders
- Aortic aneurysms (thoracic and abdominal)
- Aortic dissections
- Bicuspid aortic valve disease with aortopathy
- Marfan’s disease
- Connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Turner’s syndrome or aortitis
- Family history of aortic conditions
Our capabilities and treatments
- Comprehensive evaluation
- CT and MRI
- Echo
- Use of minimally invasive endovascular aortic grafts
- Repair of thoracic and abdominal aneurysms
- Thoracic endografts techniques (TEVAR)
- Fenestrated graft procedures
- Thoracoabdominal surgery
- Complex valve sparing aortic replacement procedures
- Percutaneous interventions for aortic dissections
Fenestrated stent grafts
Abbott Northwestern is the first hospital in the Twin Cities area, and one of the few centers in the United States, to offer high surgical risk patients the endovascular option of fenestrated stent grafts. Each graft is customized to fit each patient and designed using a complex 3-D analysis to obtain the perfect fit.
Since the beginning of 2014, more than 30 "high surgical risk" patients have been treated using custom-made fenestrated stent grafts with a 100 percent technical success rate. Thanks to this technique, patients who have been denied surgery in the past can be successfully treated at the Center for Aortic Disease.
Hybrid cardiovascular operating room
The first hybrid room in the Twin Cities was opened at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. The room blends the capabilities of a cardiovascular catheterization laboratory with a traditional surgical suite.
The suite, which is large enough for a dozen clinicians to work seamlessly, has the appropriate technology and space for the Center for Aortic Disease's multidisciplinary team and also features robotic three-dimensional imaging.