Hello everyone! I’m Alvaro, and welcome back to #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth. Today we’re going to tackle a question that many patients ask about aortic disease: “🔎 How Do We See Aortic Disease?” The aorta is the largest artery in the human body, but we cannot diagnose most aortic diseases simply by looking at the patient. Aortic aneurysms, dissections, intramural hematomas, and other aortic conditions can develop silently, sometimes without producing any symptoms until a li

Welcome everyone to Medical monday, my name is Alvaro and today, we’re going to dive into and debunk a common myth in aortic disease: “If you have a dissection in your abdominal aorta, you will never have one in your thoracic aorta.” But is that really true? Let’s take a closer look at the case, the evidence, and what happens to the aorta beyond the segment where the dissection was first diagnosed. For patients living with aortic disease, it can be tempting to think of the ao

The Vascular Surgeon's Role in Aortic Disease Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. My name is Alvaro, and today we're discussing the vital role vascular surgeons play in the management of aortic disease. When people hear the term aortic dissection, they often imagine emergency open-heart surgery. While this is true for many Type A dissections, the management of Type B dissections, toracoabdominal aneurysm and abdominal aortic aneurysm are very different and frequen

What Is Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE)? Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an advanced ultrasound technique used to obtain high-resolution images of the heart and thoracic aorta. Instead of placing the ultrasound probe on the chest, the probe is inserted into the esophagus, which lies directly behind the heart. Because the esophagus sits so close to the heart and the aorta, TEE provides clearer and more detailed images than standard echocardiography in many sit

Understanding Aortic Stenosis Aortic stenosis is one of the most common and serious valve diseases. It occurs when the aortic valve opening becomes narrowed, making it harder for blood to leave the heart and reach the body. At first, the heart compensates. Over time, that compensation fails — and symptoms appear. Aortic stenosis prognosis: What 6 facts should you know? Heart-valve-surgery.com n.d. https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/aortic-stenosis-prognosis.php (accessed Feb