Peripheral Vascular Disease

Peripheral vascular disease occurs when a hard substance (atherosclerotic plaque) builds up on the walls of arteries, decreasing or completely blocking the blood flow. When the arteries in the abdomen or legs are involved, this can result in painful muscle cramps when walking (claudication) or even gangrene. If the arteries to the kidney are involved, the effects vary from worsening high blood pressure to kidney failure. After speaking with and carefully examining you, one of our doctors will decide what testing may be needed to further diagnose you problem. This may involve ultrasound, CT Scan, Magnetic Resonance Angiogram (MRA) or arteriogram. These studies can reveal the location and severity of the arterial narrowing.

If a bypass surgery is necessary, the surgeon uses a synthetic graft or a piece of your own vein to bypass the blocked artery. Technology continues to improve and we are often able to improve blood flow through a catheter instead of open bypass surgery. We have extensive experience with a wide range of treatments in this area. We can perform angioplasty, cold balloon angioplasty, stenting, placement of drug-coated stents, atherectomy and laser atherectomy.

Vascular surgeons have been treating peripheral vascular disease longer that any other medical specialty. They are the only doctors qualified to perform both surgical and catheter based therapies. This makes us best qualified to choose which therapy is ideal for each patient.