On Thursday, Oct. 29, Lakeland Regional Health reached a milestone in cardiovascular care after completing Florida’s first physician-modified endograft total aortic repair using the GORE TAG Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis with a fully percutaneous technique.
The procedure offers a minimally invasive option for treating complex conditions involving the aorta, the body’s largest artery. Rather than relying on traditional open-chest surgery, physicians use small punctures to place a customized stent graft inside the blood vessel.
The procedure was performed by a team of cardiovascular surgeons and interventional radiology specialists at Lakeland Regional Health.
How the New Aortic Repair Procedure Works
The aorta carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Its upper curved section, known as the aortic arch, presents a particular challenge because three major arteries branch from it to supply blood to the brain, head, neck, and arms…