Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy

Quality patient care shaped by a history of innovative therapy

Since its inception over 75 years ago, the vascular surgery service at Emory in Atlanta, Georgia, has had an international role in advancing the treatment of arterial and venous disease. In the early 1990s, vascular surgery began shifting focus from traditional, open procedures to minimally-invasive and endovascular therapy techniques, pharmaceuticals and gene therapy, a transition that was invigorated and validated by a wide range of clinical trials undertaken by the service's board-certified staff of Emory University School of Medicine-based faculty physicians. In 2001, the service was renamed the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy to underscore its commitment to forward-looking procedures and research. Over the past ten years, the division's basic science research program has received over 14 million dollars of funding from the NIH.

The division is a premier provider of inpatient and outpatient care to treat:

	Acute venous thrombosis and chronic venous insufficiency
	Abdominal aortic aneurysm
	Thoracic aortic aneurysm
	Carotid artery disease
	Peripheral arterial occlusive disease
	Varicose veins and spider veins

As contributors to one of the leading investigative centers in the nation, our vascular surgery specialists have often been directly involved with developing or refining the procedures they perform. For example, Dr. Elliot Chaikof, the current division chief, established the first Emory program for endovascular aortic aneurysm repair in 1992.

Treatment specialties offered by the division include:

	Angioplasty
	Carotid endarterectomy
	Drug therapy
	Endovascular stent-grafts and catheters, which were pioneered at Emory in the 1970s
	Gene and endovascular therapy
	Pressure sensor implantation for monitoring aortic aneurysm after repair
	Endolaser ablation for varicose veins
	Sclerotherapy for spider veins
	Surgery for dialysis access
	Diagnostic services performed at the Emory Non-Invasive Vascular Laboratory, including carotid duplex ultrasound imaging; AV fistula, bypass graft, and upper and lower venous studies; and segmental pressures and waveforms for upper and lower arterial studies. If ordered by vascular physicians, computed tomography angiography and magnetic resonance angiography are done at the Department of Radiology.