Chief and Associate Professor Katsuyuki Hoshina

The field of vascular surgery covers surgery of the vasculature of the body except for the heart and brain. Vascular surgeons treat patients with vascular diseases such as “dilatation” (aneurysm) and “obstruction or stenosis,” including arteriosclerosis obliterans. They treat dilating aneurysms to prevent rupture or save lives and obstructive or stenotic lesions to improve ischemia.

Vascular surgeons have several treatment options [weapons], including bypass surgery, endovascular treatment, and medication; however, the combination of these weapons is controversial because lesion characteristics often vary. Recently, many devices have been developed and launched, and it is exceedingly difficult for both surgeons and patients to select an “appropriate” treatment. If the weapons are treated incorrectly, the patient may experience unfortunate adverse events. Our department, which has several achievements in medical research and education and extensive clinical and operative experiences, can justify the treatments using evidence and not empirical rules. Although we take pride in the safety and reliability of our treatments, we are not being defensive. Surgeons fighting against vascular diseases promise to do their best to treat patients using all available therapeutic weapons.

• Vascular Surgery Faculty