Vascular Diseases & Procedures
Vascular system
The vascular system is the combination of all your arteries and veins. Veins are the blood vessels that carry blood to the heart. From the heart, your blood goes to the lungs where it receives oxygen. It then goes back to the heart, which sends this oxygen-rich blood out into the body through arteries.
Vascular disease occurs when these blood vessels become smaller and slow down to stop the normal flow of blood through the body. The skin, muscles or organs are damaged when the body does not get enough oxygen or important nutrients found in the blood.
Common vascular diseases
Risk factors
Risk factors are behaviors or physical findings that can put you at greater risk for developing a disease. Risk factors are divided into those that are both within and beyond your control, including:
Controllable risk factors
- Cigarette smoking
- Lack of exercise
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Obesity
Uncontrollable factors
- Gender
- Age
- Family history
Each risk factor alone can pose a threat to your physical health. When these factors combine, the chances for developing vascular or heart disease are greatly increased.
Vascular procedures
The Vascular Center at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett provides a wide range of diagnostic and interventional vascular and vascular surgery procedures.
Diagnostic procedures include:
- Vascular ultrasound
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Computer tomography (CT)
- Angiography
Interventional vascular procedures use advanced plaque removing techniques and stent placement intervention to restore the blood flow to the affected section of the vascular system.
Peripheral artery bypass, carotid artery disease (CAD) procedures, and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) stent grafts are performed in one of nine operating rooms equipped for vascular surgery.