News & Stories

On August 30, Cooper University Hospital – home to the region’s only dedicated aortic program – became the first in the state to perform a complex abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair using a fenestrated endograft. Cooper is among the first hospitals in the nation – and the only one in South Jersey – to offer this leading-edge treatment.

The fenestrated endograft is the world’s first to incorporate tailored openings, or fenestrations, in the endograft’s top section. This enables the self-expanding, fabric-covered stent-graft to treat aortic and aortoiliac aneurysms extending close to the renal and superior mesenteric arteries, which are then stented to reduce the risk of restricting or blocking blood flow to the kidneys and bowel. Each fenestrated device is custom-made from a spiral CT-generated 3-D computer model of the patient’s anatomy. The fenestrations in the stent-graft are precisely positioned where the patient’s renal or bowel arteries branch off.

Cooper is very enthusiastic about bringing this new technology to South Jersey. Now all patients with AAA’s involving renal arteries have an endovascular option.