Complex Aortic Disease: Sussing Out a Silent Killer to Save Lives

Medical Breakthroughs from Penn Medicine

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO
Guest: Nimesh Desai, MD
Complex aortic diseases, feared by clinicians and the general public alike, are often labeled "silent killers" due to their unnerving pattern for developing insideously prior to presenting as acute crises. Even more concerning, the symptoms of aortic diseases are typically vague and difficult to diagnose without a high degree of clinical suspicion. For these reasons, the speed of diagnosis and treatment can determine whether patients live or die from aortic disease. Host Dr. Jennifer Caudle welcomes Dr. Nimesh Desai, attending cardiac surgeon and Director of the Thoracic Research Program at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss innovative medical and surgical approaches to complex aortic diseases. The two categorize these disease states specifically, examine which patient populations are at highest risk, and review methods to help clinicians reach faster life-saving diagnoses.