John Kern, MD: Once a patient has an aneurysm that reaches a certain size that it becomes a risk to their wellbeing, we always look to see if we can possibly treat them in an endovascular way. W. Darrin Clouse, MD: Endovascular surgery, or endovascular aneurysm repair, or endovascular aortic surgery is all the terminology we use for catheter-based procedures. Most of the time we're able to do this through punctures in the groin arteries, or through a puncture in an arm artery or a small incision in an exposure of an arm artery, either at the shoulder or in the arm. And use wires and catheters to place these endovascular grafts and maintain flow in the branches of the aorta. John Kern, MD: It's less invasive. The recovery time is quicker. In general, the risks associated with an endovascular repair are lower than the risks associated with an open repair. W. Darrin Clouse, MD: The most common area in the aorta to develop aneurysms is what's called infrarenal, meaning below the kidneys. About 80% of aneurysms are actually below the kidneys. We go up one side or the other from the groin, and we actually implant a stint graft and join it to a stint graft that goes down into the other side toward the other femoral artery, and essentially exclude the aneurysm. Unlike open surgery, where we go in and we actually open the aneurysm and get rid of it, and sew in an open graft. With endovascular repair of the aorta and the aneurysm is still there. Behzad Farivar, MD: Standard endograft and infrarenal endovascular aneurysm repair, or EVAR, is used to treat an infrarenal aortic aneurysm. TEVAR, or a thoracic endovascular aortic repair is used to treat an aneurysm in the descending thoracic aorta. John Kern, MD: FEVAR is a fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair, and BEVAR is a branched endovascular aneurysm repair. And the fenestrated and branched endografts are really the newest technologies when it comes to endovascular repairs. And we are fortunate to offer those options at UVA. The biggest thing for patients after an endovascular repair is the time in the hospital. And it's a lot quicker than with open repair. Often patients are in the hospital sometimes just overnight, and they're home the next day. And they only need to take it easy for a week or so, and then they're back at full activity. W. Darrin Clouse, MD: UVA is uniquely equipped for endovascular aortic surgery and for less invasive procedures because of our hybrid operating rooms, our ability to do open and endovascular surgery and single image-resourced and image-guided operating rooms. Behzad Farivar, MD: Our goal at the University of Virginia Aortic Center is to provide high-quality, cutting-edge, comprehensive care in a multidisciplinary fashion. Care that is individualized and unique, all under one roof.