The vascular surgery program at Rush University Medical Center has a comprehensive team of highly experienced clinical specialists, including board-certified physicians and other talented health care professionals. The dedicated team of surgeons uses every tool available to provide effective and individualized vascular treatments supported by leading-edge technology and a comprehensive research and medical center.

Conditions | Diagnosis | Treatments | Physicians | Resources

Conditions treated

• Abdominal aortic aneurysms
• Carotid artery disease
• Claudication
• Deep vein (or venous) thrombosis or DVT
• Mesenteric artery ischemia
• Peripheral vascular disease (PVD), also known as peripheral artery disease (PAD)
• Thoracic aortic aneurysms
• Varicose veins
• Venous insufficiency
• Venous ulcers

Diagnostic services

• Computed tomography angiography
• Extremity and aortic angiography
• Duplex ultrasound (arterial, carotid and venous)
• Noninvasive blood flow study

Treatments

Minimally invasive and noninvasive procedures

• Carotid stenting – Doctors place a mesh-metal tube to treat carotid or neck artery blockages.
• Endovascular aneurysm repair – Doctors insert a small tube in arteries — often performed without incisions, merely a needle stick — to reinforce weak spots to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms and thoracic aortic aneurysms.
• Endovenous ablation – To treat varicose veins noninvasively, doctors thread a flexible tube through the vein up to the groin — using special solution to numb the vein — and apply energy through the catheter, which seals off the vein.
• Sclerotherapy – To treat varicose and spider veins noninvasively, doctors inject a chemical solution into the spider vein. The vein collapses and then disappears.
• Peripheral artery atherectomy – Doctors use a very small, rotating blade to remove plaque from the arterial wall to treat peripheral vascular disease, or PVD (also called PAD). Devices usedinclude SilverHawk and Diamondback.
• Peripheral artery angioplasty – Doctors use a small removable balloon to open blockages in patients with PVD.
• Peripheral artery stenting – Doctors use a small metallic stent to open blockages in patients with PVD.

Open surgical procedures

• Aortic bypass procedures – Doctors reroute blood supply for aortic and iliac blockages.
• Carotid endarterectomy – Doctors remove plaque from the carotid artery to reopen the vessel and prevent stroke.
• First rib resection – Doctors remove the first rib in patients who have arterial and venous complications due to thoracic outlet syndrome.
• Mesenteric artery bypass procedures – Doctors reroute the blood supply to treat blockages due to mesenteric artery ischemia.
• Peripheral bypass procedures – Doctors reroute the blood supply to treat blockages due to PVD.
• Perforating vein procedure – Doctors remove abnormal veins in the leg to treat venous insufficiency and ulcers.
• Open aortic aneurysm repair – When patients with thoracic or aortic aneurysms are not candidates for endovascular repair, doctors repair the aneurysm and replace the damaged artery with a manufactured or synthetic graft.
• Thrombectomy and embolectomy – Doctors use a balloon tipped catheter to remove blood clots causing a blockage in arterial blood flow.
• Vena cava filter insertion – Doctors insert a device to prevent pulmonary embolisms.

Clinical trials

• Physicians at Rush are involved in clinical trials evaluating new treatment options for patients with cardiovascular conditions, including medications, devices and stem cell and gene therapy. For more information or to enroll a patient in a trial, call (312) 942-5498.

Clinical team

• Marshall D. Goldin, MD
• Chad E. Jacobs, MD
• Robert J. March, MD
• Walter J. McCarthy III, MD, MS

Patient and family resources

Posts about vascular and heart health from the Rush InPerson blog

Quality of care

Rush University Medical Center has one primary goal: offering patients the highest possible quality of care. As part of this effort, we continually evaluate our care processes and clinical outcomes. See the resulting data and learn more about our quality measures.