Physician Profile: Keith D. Calligaro, MD
Spring 2005
Keith
D. Calligaro, MD, is chief of vascular
surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital and part of
the team of physicians within the Center for
Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Pennsylvania
Hospital who treats patients opting for bloodless
surgical care.
As a vascular surgeon, Dr. Calligaro
specializes in aortic aneurysms and carotid
artery disease. Aortic aneurysms occur in
the abdomen, below the kidneys (see patient
profile). In recent years, vascular surgeons
have developed a less invasive technique to
repair aortic aneurysms called endovascular
aortic stent grafting (see medical explanation). “There
is about a 99 percent chance of placing them
(endovascular aortic stent grafts) successfully,” Dr.
Calligaro noted. “The
mortality rate is less than one percent,” he
said. Dr. Calligaro performs approximately
50 endovascular aortic stent grafts per year.
Vascular
surgeons at Pennsylvania Hospital perform more
than 600 major vascular open and endovascular
operations each year. “In
the Philadelphia region, we (at Pennsylvania
Hospital) were the first to perform endovascular
aortic stent grafts. We have been doing this
procedure since 1998.
Other hospitals have just started doing it in
the last two or three years,” Dr. Calligaro
said.
If a patient is eligible, an endovascular
aortic stent graft is an excellent option for
those who prefer non-blood surgical
techniques. “It is a safe and successful
method.
There is a less than five percent chance of
any major complications or a need for blood
transfusion. If an aneurysm ruptures or leaks,
90 percent of the people die,” Dr. Calligaro
said.
Other advantages to the procedure include
minimal patient preparation for surgery,
a shorter hospital stay and recovery period. “Some
patients can go home the day after surgery,” Dr.
Calligaro said. “However,
not
everyone can get stent grafting done this way;
in which case, we use traditional open surgery
and apply the same bloodless techniques
as other procedures,” he said.
Although the procedure is less invasive
and the recovery period is shorter, patients
undergoing endovascular aortic stent grafting
do need to be followed more frequently after
the procedure than those who have had
traditional open surgery.
About Dr. Calligaro
Dr. Calligaro is an associate clinical
professor of vascular surgery at the University
of Pennsylvania Health System. He received
his medical degree from the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He
completed his residency in general surgery
at the University of Health Science and his
fellowship in vascular surgery at Montefiore
Medical Center. He is board-certified in
general surgery and vascular surgery.
Dr. Calligaro was recognized in
Philadelphia Magazine’s Top Docs issue
in
2002 and 2004.
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