Aortic aneurysm

  My dad is 78 yrs. old & lives in Indianapolis.  He underwent appendix removal surgery on 9/30/98.  He has been in PCU and/or Long Term Acute for over 3 mos. now.  His recovery complications have included dimentia (dementia), vasculitis, pneumonia, stomach ulcer and now an aneurysm in the aorta.
  He has been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm near the arteries leading to the kidneys.  His doctor has informed us that this will require placing a stent, but the operation is difficult/dangerous.
  We would like to get a second opinion from another hospital/surgeon located in Indianapolis.  Can you recommend the best 2 hospitals and surgeons in Indianapolis or tell me how to locate the best one?
  My dad has been taking BP medication for about 10 yrs. now, but could the stomach ulcer and/or medications have caused this aneurysm?
  Thank you in advance for your help.

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

Dear Gary,
Firstly, No, the aneurysm did not develop as a result of medication and or the stomach ulcer.  Aortic aneurysms in the abdomen are generally of two causes, one
is from smoking and age related degeneration, and the other is due to an inherited weakness in the aortic wall; having hypertension will make either situation worse (i.e. more dilated than not.)
Indiana Heart in Indianapolis is THE place to get the opinion and the procedure performed.  Placing a stent in an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a fairly new procedure and is only done at a few centers throughout the country.  This procedure was designed in part because the surgery to repair the AAA is lengthy (at least 3-4 hours) and has significant risk for the patient such that some patients are not even operated on since they are too high risk (for death during the surgery.) The closest place to Indianapolis that does stenting of AAAs is the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland (Dr. Gray).  
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.