Your vascular system is the intricate tapestry of veins and arteries throughout your body — they run literally from head to toe. Cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons treat problems with veins and arteries around your heart. But vascular problems, treated by vascular surgeons, also can occur in veins and arteries in places such as the brain, neck, kidneys or legs.

Some vascular diseases include:

• abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)

• thoracic aneurysms

• renal (kidney) aneurysms

• carotid artery disease

• arterial occlusive disease

• brachiocephalic and upper extremity occlusive disease

• aortoiliac and lower extremity occlusive arterial disease

• venous and lymphatic disease

What Are These Diseases?
While some of the tongue-twisting names of vascular diseases may seem bewildering, they each have a dangerous common denominator: they block or impair the blood flow through arteries and veins and can lead to serious health problems and even death.

For example, carotid artery disease occurs when the major arteries in your neck that supply your brain with blood become narrowed or blocked. Over time, a large blood clot may form in your carotid artery or one of its branches leading to a stroke.

Unfortunately, carotid artery disease may not cause any symptoms until you have a stroke. But you may experience the warning signs of a stroke through transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs. Brief TIA symptoms include weakness, numbness or loss of control on one side of your body, losing vision in one eye, or the inability to speak clearly. While the symptoms usually go away within 24 hours, it''s important to see a doctor immediately if you have these symptoms because a serious stroke could be looming.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a life-threatening vascular disorder that falls under the category of arterial occlusive disease. Untreated, it can result in limb amputation, stroke, heart attack or death due to the risk of blood clots. PAD is similar to coronary artery disease except it occurs in the leg arteries instead of the heart. The artery walls become clogged with fatty deposits and affect blood circulation in the legs and feet.

Many people mistake the symptoms of PAD for something else. If you have diabetes, you are at an especially high risk for PAD. Symptoms may include foot, leg or hip pain in the muscles, especially during activity, or foot or toe wounds that are slow to heal.

Access Expertise in Vascular Treatment
Each year, Washington University vascular surgeons at Barnes-Jewish Hospital use the most up-to-date treatments to perform more than 4,000 procedures each year. The world-renowned team of vascular surgeons is recognized as one of the major vascular surgical centers in the United States. The team provides the full spectrum of advanced procedures, from limb revascularization to aneurysm repair and the treatment of carotid artery disease to the correction of arterial/venous malformations.

The vascular surgery service has the lowest mortality rate in the nation. Using minimally invasive endovascular procedures, the surgeons also have achieved a 98.5 percent survival rate for patients undergoing repair for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) — one of the best rates in the country.

To connect to a world-class vascular surgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, call 314-TOP-DOCS (314-867-3627) or toll-free 866-867-3627.