How Our Vascular Treatment Can Help You

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a vascular disease or condition, it is important to find the right care for your health and peace of mind.

At CHI Saint Joseph Health, improving blood flow in the least invasive way possible is always our goal – and it could mean the difference between merely living, and living well. Explore just a few of our specialties below. To make your appointment, call 859.313.2255 or find a board-certified vascular specialist anytime online.

Nationally Accredited Vascular Treatment Lab

Many of our procedures are minimally invasive and take place in our vascular lab. CHI Saint Joseph Health’s noninvasive services vascular laboratory is accredited by The Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL) — meaning we meet the highest standard of safety and care, right here at home.

First in Kentucky: Iliac Branch Graft Procedure

CHI Saint Joseph Health’s Saint Joseph Hospital is the first in the state to perform the iliac branch graft procedure. This innovative, minimally invasive technique involves placing a special device to allow branch arteries to stay open, keeping blood flow moving to the pelvic area and allowing quicker healing times. It is the only device indicated for the endovascular treatment of common iliac artery aneurysms or aortoiliac aneurysms.

Other Specialized Procedures

• Stent Placement: A stent is a tiny tube made of medical-grade metal mesh, and it is placed inside the vessel to help it stay open.
• Angioplasty: the general surgical repair or unblocking of a blocked artery.
•     Angioplasty with Stent Placement: Often times, an angioplasty requires stent placement too.
•     Peripheral Balloon Angioplasty: This procedure is done in the catheterization lab. Your doctor injects a special dye through a catheter, allowing them to see your arteries on an X-ray monitor. Then, a device with a small balloon on the tip is inserted through your leg or arm artery and threaded through until it reaches the site of your blockage. The balloon is then inflated, pushing open the blocked vessel. Then, it is deflated and removed.
•     Rotational Balloon Angioplasty: The same as peripheral balloon angioplasty, except a low-speed rotational movement is used.
• Atherectomy: aprocedure that uses a catheter with a sharp blade on the end to remove plaque from a blood vessel. The catheter is inserted into the artery through a small puncture in the artery, and it is performed under local anesthesia.
•     Rotational Atherectomy: the same as above, except a low-speed rotational movement is used.
• Coil Embolization: a catheter with a metal coil is inserted into an artery, usually in the groin. Once it reaches the abnormal blood vessel and is properly positioned, the coil is released and springs into position. A blood clot will form on the coil, completely obstructing the abnormal blood flow beyond the coil. Eventually a scar will form, creating a permanent seal.
•     Inferior Vena Cava Filter (IVC): An IVC filter is a small metal device designed to prevent blood clots from traveling to the lungs. The filter is placed in the inferior vena cava typically just below the kidneys using a catheter-type deployment device.
• Angiography: an invasive diagnostic test using a catheter to inject dye into arteries, veins or other organs so X-ray imaging can provide a clear visual of blood flow.
•     Carotid Angiography: Here, the dye is injected into carotid arteries of the neck. Sometimes, this test reveals that a carotid artery has poor blood flow and is blocked, increasing the risk for stroke. Three different procedures can be done to help:
•         Carotid Stent: A stent is a tiny medical-grade metal mesh tube that is inserted inside your carotid artery to unblock it and help blood flow through regularly.
•         Carotid Endarterectomy (CEA): In a CEA, your surgeon will cut into the affected carotid artery and remove the plaque through this cut. After removing the plaque from your artery, the surgeon will close the artery and neck incisions with stitches.
•         Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR): An advanced way to deliver a stent into a blocked carotid artery. TCAR is an option for patients with carotid artery disease who are considered high-risk for conventional carotid endarterectomy (CEA).
• Peripheral Vascular Angiography: Here, the dye is injected into the peripheral arteries. This is usually done to test for atherosclerosis, or plaque build-up in the arteries.
• Pulmonary Angiography: Here, the dye is injected to see how blood flows through the lungs and to check for blockage.
• Thrombectomy: During a surgical thrombectomy, a surgeon makes an incision into a blood vessel, removes a blood clot and then repairs the blood vessel. Dissolving the clot prevents heart attack and stroke.
• Thrombolytic Therapy: Some clots don’t require surgery. In these cases, a patient is treated with medication which breaks up or dissolves the clots. This can be administered through IV or orally.
• Bypass Surgery: Heart bypass surgery is used to replace damaged arteries that supply blood to your heart muscle. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of your body to repair the damaged or blocked arteries. If only one artery is blocked, you will require a single bypass surgery. If two is blocked, a double. And so on, up to quadruple. This prevents heart attack or heart failure.