A Team Approach to Aortic Disease

Aortic disease is complex and typically gets worse over time.  As other heart conditions may also be present, a comprehensive approach is required.

Under the leadership of Derek Brinster, M.D., Director of the Thoracic Aortic Surgery Program and Vigneshwar Kasirajan, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, VCUMC offers expertise covering all aspects of the medical and surgical treatment of cardiac and aortic disease.

To provide patients with a thorough evaluation, caregivers at VCU work in partnership with other specialty areas including interventional radiology, anesthesiology, cardiology, radiology and nursing.  Some necessary diagnostic testing is performed by nuclear medicine specialists. Patient-specific treatment strategies are tailored based on the results of these diagnostic studies.

The range of services VCUMC offers patients suffering from aortic diseases include:

• Repair of acute aortic dissections
• Surgery for chronic aortic dissections and aneurysms
• Valve sparing aortic root replacement surgery
• Endovascular stent grafts for treating thoracic aortic aneurysms and aortic dissections
• Interventional catheter-based treatment of complications of aortic dissection

For additional information or to schedule an evaluation with the Thoracic Aortic Surgery Program at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center contact us at (804) 828-4641 or write to us at:

Derek Brinster, M.D.
Director
Thoracic Aortic Surgery Program
MCV Campus
West Hospital, 7th Floor
1200 East Broad Street
P.O. Box 980068
Richmond, VA  23928