Ra dio l og y Vacuum Device Offers Alternative to Surgery for Patients with Potentially Deadly Clots A minimally invasive procedure, used by UCLA physicians for the first time in California, uses a vacuum device to suck potentially deadly blood clots out of a patient’s heart. The device, AngioVac, represents an important nonsurgical option to deal with such life-threatening clots. UCLA interventional radiologists and surgeons used the AngioVac on a 62-year-old patient who came to the emergency room of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center complaining of shortness of breath, fatigue How AngioVac Works The AngioVac cannula is guided through a vessel to the site of the clot and then connected to a heart-bypass device to create suction. UCLAHEALTH.ORG 1-800-UCLA-MD1 (1-800-825-2631) and extreme cold. A CT scan revealed a 24-inch clot that stretched from the patient’s legs to his heart. use of the device. He opted for the AngioVac, and the clot was successfully removed. The patient was able to return home within a week. “The clot clogged his heart chamber like a wad of gum in a pipe,” says John Moriarty, MD, who performed the procedure. “Every moment that passed increased the risk that the clot would migrate to his lungs and kill him.” To perform the AngioVac procedure, interventional radiologists slide a tiny camera down the patient’s esophagus to visually monitor the heart, and then insert a tube with a funnel-shaped tip into an artery in the neck. The tube is guided through the blood vessels until it reaches the clot. With one end of the tube pressed against the clot, the other end is threaded through a vein in the groin Medication failed to break up the clot, leaving the patient with a difficult choice: an open- heart procedure that he might have been too weak to endure or undergoing the first-time Ra dio l og y Vacuum Device Offers Alternative to Surgery for Patients with Potentially Deadly Clots A minimally invasive procedure, used by and extreme cold. A CT scan revealed a use of the device. He opted for the AngioVac, UCLA physicians for the first time in 24-inch clot that stretched from the patient’s and the clot was successfully removed. The California, uses a vacuum device to suck legs to his heart. patient was able to return home within a week. potentially deadly blood clots out of a patient’s “The clot clogged his heart chamber like a wad To perform the AngioVac procedure, heart. The device, AngioVac, represents an of gum in a pipe,” says John Moriarty, MD, interventional radiologists slide a tiny camera important nonsurgical option to deal with who performed the procedure. “Every moment down the patient’s esophagus to visually such life-threatening clots. that passed increased the risk that the clot monitor the heart, and then insert a tube UCLA interventional radiologists and would migrate to his lungs and kill him.” with a funnel-shaped tip into an artery in the surgeons used the AngioVac on a 62-year-old neck. The tube is guided through the blood Medication failed to break up the clot, leaving patient who came to the emergency room vessels until it reaches the clot. With one end the patient with a difficult choice: an open- of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of the tube pressed against the clot, the other heart procedure that he might have been too complaining of shortness of breath, fatigue end is threaded through a vein in the groin weak to endure or undergoing the first-time How AngioVac Works The AngioVac cannula is guided through a vessel to the site of the clot and then connected to a heart-bypass device to create suction. UCLAHEALTH.ORG 1-800-UCLA-MD1 (1-800-825-2631) Ra dio l og y Vacuum Device Offers Alternative to Surgery for Patients with Potentially Deadly Clots A minimally invasive procedure, used by UCLA physicians for the first time in California, uses a vacuum device to suck potentially deadly blood clots out of a patient’s heart. The device, AngioVac, represents an important nonsurgical option to deal with such life-threatening clots. UCLA interventional radiologists and surgeons used the AngioVac on a 62-year-old patient who came to the emergency room of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center complaining of shortness of breath, fatigue How AngioVac Works The AngioVac cannula is guided through a vessel to the site of the clot and then connected to a heart-bypass device to create suction. UCLAHEALTH.ORG 1-800-UCLA-MD1 (1-800-825-2631) and extreme cold. A CT scan revealed a 24-inch clot that stretched from the patient’s legs to his heart. use of the device. He opted for the AngioVac, and the clot was successfully removed. The patient was able to return home within a week. “The clot clogged his heart chamber like a wad of gum in a pipe,” says John Moriarty, MD, who performed the procedure. “Every moment that passed increased the risk that the clot would migrate to his lungs and kill him.” To perform the AngioVac procedure, interventional radiologists slide a tiny camera down the patient’s esophagus to visually monitor the heart, and then insert a tube with a funnel-shaped tip into an artery in the neck. The tube is guided through the blood vessels until it reaches the clot. With one end of the tube pressed against the clot, the other end is threaded through a vein in the groin Medication failed to break up the clot, leaving the patient with a difficult choice: an open- heart procedure that he might have been too weak to endure or undergoing the first-time