Menu
What it is:
Peripheral arterial disease is the buildup of blockages in arteries which normally happens to the lower extremities. It has multiple causes, but the two biggest risk factors are tobacco use and diabetes. It also can happen in those without these risk factors who are advanced in age.
Symptoms:
Peripheral arterial disease has a wide range of symptoms. It typically starts with pain in the calves, thighs, or buttocks when walking a certain distance. It usually improves with resting. As it continues to advance in its severity, peripheral arterial disease will cause pain at shorter and shorter distances. It can eventually cause pain in the feet at night, gangrene, and nonhealing ulcers.
Treatment:
At the start, peripheral arterial disease is managed with smoking cessation, medication, and exercise. As it becomes more advanced, most peripheral arterial disease can be treated with minimally invasive measures such as angiogram, atherectomy (cutting out plaque), stenting, and angioplasties. Rarely are bypasses needed in our practice to treat this disease.
What it is:
Aortic aneurysms are ballooning of an artery. The most common artery where this takes place is the abdominal aorta. The biggest risk factors for aortic aneurysm are tobacco use and family history.
Symptoms:
Aortic aneurysms usually remain asymptomatic until they rupture. Some people can feel a pulsatile mass in their abdomen between the level of their belly button and the bottom of the rib cage. Most aneurysms are found when looking for other issues in the abdomen with either a CT scan or ultrasound.
Treatment:
Most abdominal aortic aneurysms can be treated by an endovascular repair of the aorta. Of those treated with an endovascular repair, the vast majority can be treated without an incision. Advances in medical technology have allowed us to treat more and more difficult aneurysms over the last decade.
What it is:
Carotid artery disease is the buildup of blockages within the arteries in the neck. If left untreated, it increases your risk of having a stroke. This risk greatly increases as the degree of narrowing increases.
Symptoms:
Most carotid artery disease is asymptomatic. As the degree of narrowing worsens or the plaque becomes unstable, it can lead to mini strokes (TIA) and strokes. Mini strokes associated with carotid artery disease can also cause severe recurrent headaches. Carotid artery disease rarely causes dizziness or lightheadedness.
Treatment:
Medications and lifestyle modifications are the main treatment for a low degree of narrowing in the artery. The main lifestyle modification is to stop smoking. Once the degree of narrowing becomes severe enough and the risk of stroke goes up, most patients are treated with a surgical intervention that cleans out the plaque in the artery. This treatment has an extremely low risk of a stroke. Another treatment option is stenting, but the risk of stroke and mini strokes is much higher with stents.
