Vascular Institute Shows how New Procedure Helps with Old Surgery
CHATTANOOGA, TN – In 1964 President Lyndon Johnson designated February to be National Heart Month. At the time, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death in the United States so he wanted people to focus on their health and heart issues in the month that would align with Valentine’s Day.
Dr. William Harris invited us into his operating room at the Vascular Institute of Chattanooga to talk about a new procedure they’re using called Trans Carotid Artery Revascularization, or TCAR.
“Today we’re going to talk about carotid artery disease, which is something very near and dear to my heart and everybody else’s heart” says Dr. Harris. And carotid blockage is affected. Tremendous amount of the population in southeast Tennessee because of people who are obese. There are a lot of cigarette smokers and other genetic factors.”
“So coronary disease actually can cause strokes. It’s one of the leading causes of strokes in the United States. Classically, when we see a cruller blockage, make a big incision in the neck that looks like you got to a knife fight and clean out that artery, scrape out the artery, and so on. A little patch. Nowadays, we can access the carotid artery, a tiny little incision on the base of the neck and slightest dent in number one. It’s cosmetically more appealing and it’s less morbid. So there are less, nerve injury. There’s a very, very low risk of stroke with the procedure. And so overall, a great new procedure that we bring to the table,” says Harris.
They start with a process to see if you’re a candidate because obviously not everyone is a candidate for TCAR. They use ultrasound, screen for chronic diseases, risk factors for coronary and heart diseases. Sometimes they’ll even use a CT scan in the process to see if TCAR is a better fit vs the traditional open surgery.
“So we put everything together. We put the patient’s health together. Their previous if they’ve had previous operations. We look at the CT scan. We look at the ultrasound to determine whether or not the patient would be a candidate for TCAR,” says Harris.
If you have a history of strokes carotid artery disease, or just need a fresh look at your cardiovascular health, look up our friend Doctor Harris here at the Vascular Institute of Chattanooga. They have six locations to serve you better.
