In a news release last month, the Piedmont Heart Institute in Buckhead announced a new surgery there may help many Americans who suffer from abdominal aortic aneurysms, a bulge in the main blood vessel that runs through the stomach and carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

It is estimated that 1.7 million people have this condition and more than 50,000 repairs are performed annually in the U.S.

The condition, which can be life-threatening if the aneurysms burst and cause severe internal bleeding, is relatively common in men and those aged 65 and over. Despite this, about half of those with abdominal aortic aneurysms may not be candidates for traditional repairs.

“Until now, repairing complex or ruptured abdominal aneurysms was risky,” said Eyal Ben-Arie, M.D., a vascular surgeon with Piedmont Heart. “With this new minimally-invasive procedure, a fenestrated aortic stent-graft is used to reinforce openings and maintain blood flow to vessels that lead to other organs in the body.”

Ben-Arie performed this new procedure, called a fenestrated aortic endograft, for the first time at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital Feb. 6. Currently, the procedure is only available at Piedmont Heart and Emory University in Georgia and was one of the first performed in the state.

Information: visit www.piedmontheart.org.