Treatments for aortic disease offered at Duke include medications as well as minimally invasive endovascular therapies.

Medications

Antihypertensive drugs or beta blockers may help slow an aneurysm growth or prevent complications.

Especially for patients with the Marfan syndrome, angiotensive receptor blockers (ARBs) are showing promise in early studies for preventing aortic dilatation.

For young patients with the Marfan syndrome (those less than 25 years of age who meet study criteria), Duke is participating in an NIH-sponsored clinical trial examining the best medical treatment for slowing the progression of aortic root enlargement. 

Minimally Invasive Endovascular Therapies

Duke is one of the leading implementers of thoracic stent grafts in the United States.

More and more patients are taking advantage of these therapies, which have replaced open surgery in many cases.

These therapies allow patients to recover faster, and they result in less morbidity and mortality than open surgery.

Click a link for information about how endovascular techniques are used to treat:

• Descending aortic aneurysms
• Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms
• Aortic dissections

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Hughes, G. Chad
• McCann, Richard L.
• Wechsler, Stephanie Burns

Locations

This service is available at:

• Duke Cardiothoracic Surgery
  Duke Clinic 2B, 200 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710
• Duke Vascular Surgery
  Duke Clinic 2B, 200 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710