site.btaMilitary Medical Academy Performs Exceptional Vascular Surgery, First in Bulgaria

The Vascular Surgery Clinic of the Military Medical Academy (MMA), headed by Prof. Kuzman Girov, has established itself as a leading centre in Bulgaria in the field of minimally invasive methods for the treatment of complex aortic cases.

The year 2024 has been designated the year of introduction of innovative techniques in the treatment of aortic diseases in our country. The equation for the MMA could not be more different, said Dr. Nikola Kolev from the Clinic of Vascular Surgery. 

In December, he and his colleagues, Dr. Todor Samardzhiev and Dr. Todorka Naydenova, performed the first endovascular treatment of a thoracoabdominal aneurysm in Bulgaria using a modified endograft. 

The uniqueness of the technique used is that it is the first time that add-on branches of the prosthesis are used. The endovascular intervention lasted for 7 hours, and by the 48th hour the patient was already verticalized, Dr. Kolev commented. 

Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms are among the most challenging cases worldwide in the field of aortic surgery.

MMA is among the leaders in the country in the endovascular treatment of complex aortic aneurysms. 

In the era of oncology development, aortic diseases are a serious contraindication for chemotherapy. Thanks to the interdisciplinary approach and the modern multidisciplinary material base of the MMA, endovascular aortic repairs are performed in patients with concomitant oncological diseases in the Clinic of Vascular Surgery, both preoperatively with regard to the oncological disease, and before chemotherapy procedures, the specialist said.