Vascular Surgery

A treatment plan centered on you

The Carotid Artery Disease Program at Tufts Medical Center provides advanced and minimally invasive procedures to treat patients with narrowed carotid arteries due to atherosclerotic, plaque build-up, recurrent stenosis, or fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). In addition we care for patients with Carotid Body Tumors (paragangiolomas), carotid dissections, and carotid aneurysms. There are many treatment options for Carotid Artery Disease including life style changes, medication, catheter based procedures, and surgery. But what’s right for you? At the Division of Vascular Surgery, we will work closely with you to develop a customized care plan that best meets your needs.

Our nationally recognized vascular surgeons who are all ranked as some of the best in the country by US News and World Report, offer a full range of services including both traditional and minimally invasive surgery.

An experienced team on your side

Tufts Medical Center was among the first hospitals in the country to develop a program to treat carotid artery disease. After determining the extent of your condition, our team will use our extensive experience to design the most effective and least invasive treatment plan possible.

The Division of Vascular Surgery has been a dedicated vascular practice at Tufts MC since 1966 and continues to treat more than 4,500 patients a year. But here, you are not just a number. Our goal is to treat you like a member of our own family. The result is that you will be healthier and more satisfied. In fact, our patient satisfaction scores are consistently among the highest in the hospital.

What can I expect at Tufts Medical Center?

The first step in being able to determine the best treatment is to assess the progression of the disease. At Tufts MC, we have advanced diagnostic and imaging capabilities that allow us to do this quickly and accurately. For your convenience, all of these tests can be done here at one location, most often during one appointment. While determining the progression of your carotid artery disease, your doctors will also evaluate your risk of related conditions including heart attack and stroke.

Throughout your time in our care, you can rest assured that you are in the hands of top-ranked specialists, including vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, interventional cardiologists, and infectious disease specialists. We also have strong, collaborative relationships with Neurology, Nephrology and Rehabilitative Medicine and other medical subspecialty groups. This collaborative approach ensures that you have comprehensive, integrated care even if you have a complex condition.

What are my treatment options?

Carotid Artery Occlusive Disease can often be treated with medications, exercise and smoking cessation. Should you need more extensive intervention, your team of specialists will work with you to choose the safest and most effective alternatives. We offer a full range of minimally invasive catheter-based procedures including:

• Carotid endarectomy - surgically removing plaque from the artery though a neck incision.
• Carotid angioplasty and stenting - inserting a small mesh tube which is ballooned to open the artery and trap the plaque against the artery wall. This is done via a small puncture in the groin in most cases.

We also specialize in complex primary and re-operative procedures.

• Carotid body tumors - can often be peeled off the carotid artery without ever clamping the vessels, though in advanced cases our surgeons may need to replace the diseased segment of artery with a bypass graft.
• Carotid dissections - most commonly managed medically while in complicated cases surgical or catheter based repairs may be indicated.

What’s important is that as a team of specialists we will be looking at both your short-term and long-term needs. Additionally, all of our treatment and recovery recommendations are based on best practices from the clinic, therapies that have been proven to work.

To make an appointment with one of our vascular surgeons, please call 617-636-5019.