April 6, 2023 — Global death rates from aortic diseases have steadily increased over the past two decades. Studies show up to 8% of individuals will develop an aortic aneurysm during their lifetime, higher than rates of colon and lung cancer combined, and over 80% of ruptured aortic aneurysms cause sudden death.
To save lives and improve outcomes for patients with aortic disease of all kinds, Ochsner Health is excited to announce the establishment of The Ochsner Aortic Center. Outfitted with cutting-edge imaging technology that allows medical staff to make faster, easier, and safer decisions, this dedicated, comprehensive aortic center is now the only of its kind in the Gulf South. Ochsner’s new Aortic Center is positioned to become the preferred destination for treatment and surveillance of aortic disease between Houston, St. Louis, and Birmingham, thanks to a dedicated staff of highly skilled experts. The Center’s designation is enhanced by Ochsner’s adoption of Cydar EV Maps, a global, cloud-based software that provides an integrated solution for aortic case planning, navigation, and review.
Ochsner was positioned to create its aortic center due to the hospital system’s foundational skillset of vascular surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, and cardiologists. These experts collaborate intimately with cardiovascular radiologists, intensivists, cardiovascular anesthesiologists, medical geneticists, and highly skilled nurses and technologists to provide truly comprehensive care for some of the region’s most complex patients.
“Ochsner Health was created nearly 100 years ago on a foundation of collaboration that harnessed the expertise of a diverse team of physicians, ensuring patients received individualized, comprehensive care – and aortic innovation has been a central and recurring theme of Ochsner’s history,” said Clayton Brinster, MD, FACS, Director of The Ochsner Aortic Center and a Senior Staff Surgeon for Ochsner Health. “The Ochsner Aortic Center is a logical next step in furthering the health system’s rich legacy and bringing the latest groundbreaking technology to Louisiana. The expertise in aortic surgery provided at Ochsner is unmatched in the Gulf South region, with multiple nationally renowned aortic surgeons on staff.”
More than 90% of patients treated at Ochsner with aortic aneurysm disease receive minimally invasive, endovascular surgery. In addition, vascular surgeons still on staff at Ochsner were among the first nationally to develop, study and establish the safety of minimally invasive, endovascular aortic repair, called EVAR, through clinical trials over 20 years ago.
Ochsner’s Aortic Center now features a revolutionary imaging technology, Cydar EV Maps, which harnesses the latest AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology to automate processes and provide real-time maps throughout the procedure, leading to a reduction in radiation exposure and operative time, and potentially improving outcomes for aortic patients. The technology allows clinicians to create detailed, patient-specific, 3-D maps to plan procedures, navigate surgeries with clear imaging, and provide post-operative case review. Simply put, The Ochsner Aortic Center’s mission is to utilize this revolutionary technology to transform the way information is provided to clinicians at every stage of patient care, resulting in safer, more efficient, cutting-edge delivery of aortic therapies. “Our first and highest priority is the safety and care of our patients,” Brinster says, “and with the collective experience of our faculty combined now with Cydar technology, we can treat all aortic pathology, no matter how complex, with the safest minimally invasive techniques available and now with reduced radiation exposure and operative time for the patient. Ochsner Heath is one of fewer than ten health centers nationwide, and the only one in the Gulf South region, to offer this technology.”
“We believe that our clinicians should have the world’s experience at their fingertips, and we will help achieve this vision by using the latest cutting-edge, imaging technology to enable them to make faster, easier, and safer decisions,” said Paul Hardwick, Commercial Director of Cydar.
For more information: https://www.ochsner.org/
April 22, 2024 
