SilverHawk TM Plaque Excision System Offers Breakthrough Treatment for Peripheral Vascular Disease
Thomas Bernik, M.D., Chief of Endovascular Surgery, One of the Country's Most Experienced Users of This Technology.
PAD - peripheral vascular disease - affects some 12 million people in the United States; claudication can be so extreme that patients may have difficulty walking short distances. Critical Limb Ischemia, a severe condition of PAD, seriously disrupts blood blow to the hands and feet, causing intense pain, numbness, tingling or weakness in the leg. If left untreated, it can lead to gangrene, amputation and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Having performed more than 200 procedures with the SilverHawkTM Plaque Excision System, chief of endovascular surgery, Thomas Bernik, M.D., is among the most experienced in the country in the use of this revolutionary system to remove arterial obstructions. This new FDA-approved device can save a patient's leg from amputation after other peripheral interventions have failed. It uses a tiny rotting blade the size of a grain of rice to shave away large quantities of plaque from inside the artery. As it is excised, the plaque collects in the tip of the device and is then removed from the patient.
This system differs from angioplasty and stenting, which are also used to remove plaque. While angioplasty and stenting open a channel in the artery for blood flow by pushing plaque up against the artery walls, the SilverHawk Plaque Excision System removes it entirely, virtually eliminating the chance that the plaque will build up again.
St. Vincent�s vascular surgeons are at the forefront of endovascular treatment for several key conditions: PVD, aneurysms, carotid arteries, and especially thoracic aneurysm endografting. To locate one of our expert vascular surgeons, please click on the Find a Doctor� button at the top of this page.
