Surgeons and physicians from the Stony Brook Medicine Multidisciplinary Aortic Center (MAC) recently held the first Aortic Dissection and Aneurysm Awareness Day at the Charles B. Wang Center. The event aimed to increase understanding of aortic diseases, including aortic dissection and aortic aneurysms.
Speakers included Rabih Chaer, MD, MS, John J. Ricotta Endowed Professor in Vascular Surgery and chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery; Jonathan Price, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery; Apostolos Tassiopoulos, MD, professor of surgery in the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery; Joseph Franco, DO, assistant professor of surgery in Cardiovascular and Lifestyle Medicine; and Ben Youdelman, MD, director of Thoracic Aortic Surgery/Co-Director Maimonides Aortic Center at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. The event also featured aortic disease survivors Robert Glass—who serves as a board member for Think Aorta US—and Stony Brook patients Demir Aksehirli and Howard Kanowitz.
Attendees heard expert talks from leading physicians on aortic disease as well as personal stories from survivors. Screening stations provided vascular ultrasound/AAA screenings.
Drs. Chaer and Youdelman opened the event with Glass by welcoming attendees and giving introductory presentations. Glass recounted his experience after discovering an aneurysm in 2015 that grew larger by 2019: “The discovery of a growing aneurysm in 2015, and a CT scan that showed it had increased in size by 2019, set me on the path to seek help and to get the rest of my family tested,” he said. Testing revealed his father also had an undiagnosed small aneurysm. This led Glass to become involved with Think Aorta, which focuses on global education about aortic disease.
“I am thrilled and grateful we are able to reach out to the public and medical community to increase awareness about aortic diseases,” said Dr. Chaer. “The patient testimonials at the Stony Brook inaugural Aortic Awareness Day were invaluable and stress the importance of multidisciplinary lifelong care of patients with aortic aneurysm and dissection.”
The MAC provides comprehensive care for patients with conditions such as aneurysms or dissections through collaboration among cardiologists, vascular surgeons, cardiac surgeons, geneticists, and other specialists who develop individualized treatment plans with long-term follow-up.
For more information or appointments with an aortic disease surgical specialist at Stony Brook Medicine’s MAC program, individuals can call (631) 638-1670.
