Dr. Aryavand and his team are the best!

 

Elias Veloz woke up one morning with minor back pain and figured he slept awkwardly and pulled a muscle. He spent that day driving to a number of locations between Fredricksburg and Arlington and noticed throughout the day that the pain became more intense. Elias also realized he had a fever and was nauseas. He thought he had the flu.

 

Elias felt so bad that at one point he pulled over on Rt. 66 and got out of his car to get some fresh air and to cool off. Once he felt better, he continued his drive to Chantilly. Upon arriving at his destination, the pain in his back was excruciating and his colleagues called 911.

 

Elias was taken to Inova Fair Oaks Hospital and immediately underwent a CT scan that showed he was experiencing a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. “Within minutes I was flown by helicopter to Inova Fairfax and taken straight to the operating room.”

 

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are caused when the wall of the aorta expands like a balloon and cannot allow blood to properly pass though the aorta and up into the heart. If these aneurysms rupture, they are almost always fatal because of the amount of internal bleeding and inability for blood to travel to the heart.

 

In the operating room, CVTSA vascular surgeon Behdad Aryavand repaired the ruptured aneurysm by placing two catheters, one through Elias’ groin and one through his neck, to reach the abdominal portion of the aorta. Once there, Dr. Aryavand deployed a stent which sealed off the aneurysm preventing further bleeding.

 

Elias spent 3 days in the hospital and within two weeks was back to his normal activities.

 

“I couldn’t believe that Dr. Aryavand fixed such a big problem with such a small incision. He and his team are the best!”