what is aorta graft surgery?

Answer 1

The aorta is a large blood vessel that _arises_ from the heart (the left ventricle) and supplies blood to most of the body. An aortic graft is the replacement of some part of the aorta with a graft - usually made of a special hypoallergenic material in the form of a tight mesh.

Some of the conditions that may require grafting include
Aortic Aneurysm
Aortic Dissection

In these cases a graft is placed inside the aorta or replacing the aorta in the section that has been weakened or injured.

There are a few other types of grafts where blood flow is taken from the aorta and directed to other blood vessels - these are also forms of aortic grafting procedures including aorto-femoral grafts, aorto-subclavian grafts. I don't know of any form of coronary artery bypass graft that takes blood from the aorta to supply the arteries of the heart.

Answer 2

The Aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body. It starts at the Left Ventricle of the heart and carries all the oxygenated blood from the heart to be pumped around the entire body. It is devided into three sections -
The Ascending Aorta, the first part that comes from the heart.
The Aortic Arch, looks like an inverted U and curves over the heart
The Descending Aorta, the main section which ends in the division into the common iliac ateries.
The aorta can also be described as either Thoracic (in the Chest) or abdominal (in the abdomen/belly)
When any part of this artery becomes diseased it may need surgery to restore or improve its function. this is when you may need graft surgery. Not always needed as it is becoming increasingly common to use stents intsead.
The most common cause for aortic graft surgery is for an aneurysm usually in the descending aorta contained in the abdomen known as Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA). An aneurysm is a general term for swelling due to weakness in the wall of the vessel. This weakness needs to be repaired as if left may rupture and this is extremely life threatening.
To repair the surgeon will, depending on where the aneurysm is located depends how this is done, will stop the blood flow through the affected area and open the aorta. they will then remove any debris, plaques and deposits, and insert the graft material (made of Dacron or Gore-tex) and then close the aorta around the graft for added strength.
This is a large and risky surgery that will usually require the patient to be placed in the ICU (Intensive care unit) or HDU (high dependency unit) for a while afterwards.

I hope that this helps you. I have worked in operating theatres for 12yrs and have seen hundreds of these operations performed duing that time and all have been successful, as in the patients have made a good surgical recovery to go home.

Answer 3

This is a major procedure. It is usually needed if there is an aneurysm (dilated section) of the Aorta due to atherosclerosis ( cholesterol artery disease). The Aorta is the largest artery in the body and runs from the heart to the point where it splits into the 2 main leg vessels.

The dilated section of the aorta is removed and replaced by a synthetic graft. It is now a fairly successful, though very serious operation.

Answer 4

Hi, In aorta graft surgery they will clamp the aorta above and below the aneurysm and then replace the area of swollen aorta with a synthetic graft. The graft is made of knitted fabric that will not perish. it is sewn into the aorta so that circulation can be restored. This kind of surgery is very successful.
Hope you get well soon afterwards :-)

Answer 5

I assume they open the Aorta and insert a new length of artery into it i cant think of what else it might be!!something like a heart bypass

Answer 6

See what Google say's about it:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=aortic+graft+surgery&spell=1

Answer 7

heart surgery

aorta is in the heart. :)