Endovascular therapy is rapidly changing the way heart attacks, stroke and quite a number of other medical conditions are being treated. Many problems that once required invasive surgery can now be fixed from inside the body, with catheters instead of scalpels. Because endovascular procedures are less invasive, patients spend less time in the hospital and less time recovering, so they can get back to their lives sooner.

At Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, specialists in endovascular therapy take a multidisciplinary approach, from the initial consultation to postoperative care. This therapeutic approach enables them to provide personalized treatment plans for everything from blocked blood vessels to aneurysms to kidney stones.

Endovascular therapy is minimally invasive and involves specialized equipment and techniques. These innovative procedures require only a small incision, through which an ultra-fine catheter is inserted. The catheter, equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and expertly guided using advanced imaging techniques, is used to clear out blockages and do repair work in the heart, brain, neck, legs, kidneys and other organs. Thanks to the creation of smaller, more flexible catheters and stents — wire mesh tubes used to keep arteries open — doctors can now treat even the smallest, most remote blood vessels, such as those in the brain.

Endovascular interventions can also be used to perform biopsies on tumors, deliver targeted drugs or chemotherapy to a particular location in the body, and even treat varicose veins.

Endovascular therapy at Rush brings doctors from a number of disciplines together to share their skills and expertise in our state-of-the-art facilities:

• Cardiology
• Interventional Cardiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Neuroradiology
• Neurosurgery
• Vascular surgery

Some of the endovascular procedures available at Rush:

• Heart
  • Angioplasty (clearing blockages in the heart)
  • Coronary stenting (keeping arteries open with a specialized coil)
  • Coronary valve repair(cardiac valvuloplasty)
  • Catheter closure of congenital abnormalities
    • PFO Patent Foramen Ovale
    • ASD Atrial Septal Defect
  • Alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
  • Catheter-based gene therapy to promote new blood vessel growth
  • Radiofrequency ablations for cardiac arrhythmias
• Neurological
  • Acute stroke
  • Cerebral aneurysm
  • Carotid artery angioplasty and stenting
  • Stent-assisted coil embolization (for wide-necked aneurysms)
  • Cerebral angioplasty and stenting
  • Treatment of arteriovenous malformations
  • Spine interventions
    • Vertebroplasty
    • Tumor embolization
• Vascular
  • Abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft
  • Stents for thoracic aortic aneurysms
  • Embolization of arteriovenous malformations
  • Angioplasty and stenting of celiac or superior mesenteric artery for mesenteric ischemia
• Peripheral Vascular Disease
  • Angioplasty and stenting for blood vessels in the legs
  • Atherectomy
  • Thrombolytic therapy
• Kidney
  • Stenting of renal arteries
  • Removal of kidney stones and other obstructions
• Tumor Therapy
  • Embolization for uterine fibroids, renal tumors, liver metastases, bone tumors
  • Chemoembolization of liver tumors
  • Ablative therapy for liver, lung, renal and soft tissue tumors
• Venous
  • Spider vein ablation
  • Varicose vein ablation
  • Embolization of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations
  • Thrombolytic therapy for deep vein thrombosis
  • Mechanical thrombectomy for pulmonary embolism
  • Angioplasty and stenting for venous occlusions
  • Treatment of variceal bleeding or refractory ascites due to liver disease
• Hemodialysis Access Management
  • Mechanical thrombectomy of clotted fistula or graft
  • Angioplasty and stenting for poor flows