tom
Message 1 of 1
I am writing on behalf of my father. He is 70 years old and has just been told by his doctor, that he has a 5cm aortic stomach aneurism. His doctor has recommended two different surgical options to remedy the problem. My father’s concern is over which procedure to choose, and how long he should wait before having it done. The first option he was told is a more common procedure involving going through his stomach area to cut out the aneurism and replacing it with a dacron tube. He was also told the recovery time is longer with this procedure and the risk here is that a clamp is placed just below the heart on the aorta. The danger is that too much pressure may be placed on his already damaged heart. Part of his left ventricle is already dead from a previous heart attack. Subsequent to that, he has had quadruple by-pass surgery on his heart and had a pacemaker put in. The second option he was told is a more recent procedure, whereby the entry is made by placing a stint through the main artery of the left leg and inside the aorta in the stomach. The stint supposedly attaches itself to each side of the aneurism and replaces the damaged area. He has been told that this procedure has on been in practice for about a year and a half, so his major concerns lie with the risk factors and success rates of this new procedure. If anyone has any information on this newer procedure he’d greatly appreciate it.