(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Allegheny Health Network)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Cardiac surgeons at Allegheny Health Network’s (AHN) Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) announced today that they are the first in Pennsylvania to implant the investigational Arcevo™ LSA hybrid stent graft device as part of a clinical trial, ARTIZEN sponsored by Artivion, evaluating its safety and effectiveness in patients with certain aortic arch conditions, specifically aortic arch dissections (aortic tears) and aneurysms.

Scott M. Halbreiner, MD, a cardiac surgeon and the medical director of AHN’s aortic disease program, will serve as the local principal investigator and he successfully completed the first implant in May.

Aortic dissection can be a medical emergency that is life-threatening, and it occurs when there is a tear in the inner layer of the aorta, which is the body’s main artery.

Blood travels through this tear, which forces the inner and middle layers of the artery wall to dissect or split apart.

Aortic aneurysms happen when there is damage to the aortic wall that causes all aortic layers to grow, which can lead to rupture.