Our group cares for the full range of vascular conditions, working closely with your medical physician as well as Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s interventional radiologists and referral experts at university centers to tailor each patient’s care to his or her specific needs.
Narrowed or blocked arteries to the legs, causing pain or even tissue damage (usually due to atherosclerosis), are a frequent complication of aging and diabetes. Our patients can often avoid surgery with a combination of exercise, lifestyle changes and sometimes medication. If surgical intervention is required, endovascular procedures employing balloons and stents through tiny incisions are often recommended.
When vascular bypass surgery is required, we use the most up-to-date techniques, including angioscopy and duplex scanning, to restore blood flow to endangered limbs with minimal operative trauma.
Aortic aneurysms are an increasingly recognized preventable cause of early death and we recommend careful monitoring and, when appropriate, intervention to repair these potentially lethal conditions. The vast majority of our patients undergo stent graft repair (EVAR – endovascular repair of aortic aneurysm) through tiny groin incisions and are usually able to go home after 48 hours of hospitalization. Our combined 50 years’ experience with traditional aortic surgery allows us to perform very safe operations on those patients who still require open procedures with direct repair of their aneurysms.
Treatment of carotid artery stenosis (blockage of neck arteries serving the brain) requires careful evaluation, judgment and surgical experience to achieve excellent results. We follow patients closely to avoid intervention until necessary, relying on non-invasive surveillance and medical treatment to prevent strokes. When intervention becomes necessary most of our patients undergo carotid endarterectomy, an operation that removes the blocking plaques from the carotid artery. This operation remains the gold standard and excellent results can be expected.
Carotid artery stenting (through small groin incisions) is an evolving approach to carotid artery stenosis that we recommend for select patients and anticipate that as the procedure becomes refined it will likely be the preferred treatment for an increasing number of our patients.
In addition to these common blood vessel conditions, we care for the entire spectrum of non-surgical and more rare vascular conditions.
Related general information is available in the Patient Resources section of the American College of Surgeon’s website at www.facs.org