Treating an Aortic Aneurysm with a Stent Graft

Jack Saatkamp, of Fairfield, is one of the first people in the United States to get fitted for a new stent graft to treat his aortic aneurysm, which occurs when the large blood vessel that supplies blood to the abdomen, pelvis and legs becomes abnormally large or balloons outward.

Jack had the aneurysm for more than a year, but showed no symptoms. “No pain and I couldn’t feel the lump,” he tells Local 12’s Liz Bonis.

The main problem with an aneurysm is that the risk of rupturing is very high. “If that were to happen, most people don’t survive that,” Dr. Recht explains.

Both surgeons are among the first surgeons in the country to offer this new stent graft, which is placed in and around the aneurysm, and custom-fitted to the patient’s own body. “What happens is you place this [stent] inside the aneurysm so that it goes above, through and beyond the aneurysm,” Dr. Muck points out.

During this procedure, the surgeon basically relines the aorta, allowing blood flow to go through the stent graft to keep the aneurysm sack from filling up with blood. “That way, the pressure decreases and there’s not a chance that it’s going to rupture,” he points out.