Hackensack University Medical Center Launches Multidisciplinary Aortic Center

Team draws on high-volume experience, outcomes success to develop individualized surgical plans combining open and endovascular techniques to best suit patient needs

December 15, 2024

Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) recently launched its Aortic Center to seamlessly provide the region with patient-specific open, endovascular or hybrid aortic surgery with patient outcomes far exceeding national averages.

Born from the complexity of aortic pathologies and need for specialized care, the Aortic Center brings together a team of highly skilled open and endovascular surgeons, along with other experts in the field of aortic surgery. This multidisciplinary team can plan a customized, and comprehensive treatment including cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologist, endovascular surgeons, radiologists, geneticists, intensivists and advanced care providers.

The center’s multidisciplinary team collaboratively develops individualized treatment plans, combining open and or endovascular approaches to best suit the patient and clinical situation. Beyond procedural care, the Aortic Center provides comprehensive care, including long-term patient follow-up, genetic screening and counseling, patient education, a nurse navigator, ongoing research and community outreach. Follow-up care includes a registry of over 500 open repairs and aortic aneurysms tracked over patients’ lifetimes.

One of the center’s leaders, Michael Wilderman M.D., the chief of Endovascular Surgery at Hackensack said, “Our Aortic Center allows for us to create a customized and individualized treatment plan for every patient, maximizing and capitalizing on all of our members’ skill sets to provide the highest level and most cutting edge therapy for any given patient.”

George Batsides, M.D., vice chair of Cardiac Surgery and co-director of the Aortic Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, recognized the center’s development as a natural progression.

“At HUMC we were already performing complex open, endovascular or hybrid aortic procedures. We felt the need to develop an Aortic Center to better care for patients requiring these procedures and providing the follow-up care needed to with patients who have had a procedure or are currently living with an aneurysm,” he said. “An aortic aneurysm can be a silent killer. The aortic center allows us to educate patients on this issue and follow up with them to potentially avoid more aggressive treatments, including surgery.”

Established innovators in aortic treatments, Dr. Wilderman and his partners recently performed the first three TAMBE (WL Gore) off-the-shelf four-branched thoraco-abdominal stent grafts in Bergen County and Hackensack University Medical Center is one of only two centers in New Jersey with access to this device.

Dr. Wilderman went on to say, “Now, with unrestricted access to the TAMBE device, we can treat more patients in a minimally invasive way, who could otherwise not have any therapy for their complex aortic pathology. It is truly a game changer.”

Innovations in endovascular aortic surgery include developing new custom stenting techniques for complex aortic arch pathologies. The team has also performed the country’s largest series of endovascular repairs of type B aortic dissections with a novel dissection-specific device.

The endovascular aortic surgery program at Hackensack University Medical Center began in the early 2000’s and is the busiest in New Jersey, performing more than 100 endovascular abdominal and thoracic aortic surgeries a year. Survival rates for endovascular aortic surgery patients are well above the national average, with a 96% survival rate (compared to the national average of 95%) for emergency aortic dissections and a 97-98% survival rate for elective aortic surgeries.

The open aortic surgery program at Hackensack University Medical Center is one of the busiest in New Jersey, performing up to 80 open aortic surgeries (root replacement including valve sparing, ascending, arch) a year, including 15 to 25 emergency aortic dissections. Survival rates for open surgery patients well exceed the national average at a >90% survival rate (compared to the national average of 75-90%) for emergency aortic dissections and a 97-98% survival rate for elective aortic surgeries.

The team recently welcomed Caron Rockman, M.D., as chair, Department of Vascular Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center.

“As the new chair of the Department of Vascular Surgery, I am excited to continue to support the outstanding work in individualized, minimally invasive care for patients with aortic disease already being performed here at Hackensack University Medical Center,” Dr. Rockman said.

In addition to excellent clinical care outcomes, the Aortic Center prioritizes research. Hackensack University Medical Center is one of a handful of centers in the New York/New Jersey area participating in ARISE and recently treated their first patient. The center also participates in multiple endovascular aortic registries, cardiovascular research and clinical trials that advance innovation and improve patient outcomes.

Learn more about innovative heart and vascular care at Hackensack University Medical Center.