Galway-made stent part of life-saving operation

A LOUGH Cutra man has revealed how he would have died in his home last January but for the assistance of his wife, who called an ambulance after he sustained a major aortic aneurysm.
An endovascular stent graft, manufactured just a few miles away in Galway by Medtronic was used in the procedure that put him on the road to recovery.
Jerry Meade, 63, developed sudden back pain and collapsed at home on Friday, January 4  at about 7.30pm. An hour earlier he had sustained a slight pain in his lower back. However, after going to the toilet, he believes his abdominal aorta must have burst sudddenly as he fell to the bathroom floor and was left powerless with extreme pain.
“I didn’t care if I lived or died. If there was no one in the house I would have died because I wasn’t able to get up and telephone for help.  My wife phoned an ambulance, which arrived in 20 minutes, while I was treated by the advanced paramedic 10 minutes later.
“I believe I had a number of seizures before I got into the ambulance. I had no idea I was going to get an aneurysm because I got no warning.
“Unless you have gone for a CAT scan, you have no idea that you could suffer from an aneurysm,” he said.
Jerry, who works with the Special Investigations Unit in the Department of Agriculture, was taken by ambulance to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Dooradoyle, where emergency department staff began immediate work to stabilise his condition and a ruptured  7cmabdominal aortic aneurysm was quickly diagnosed.
Jerry has written to staff  thanking them for saving his life.
“The treatment I got from Dr Eamon Kavanagh and the rest of his medical team was second to none. I am very grateful to all the hospital staff for saving my life. I believe I was very agitated and wasn’t easy to deal with at the time,” he said.
Having spent about 11 days at Limerick hospital, he said he didn’t remember much about the first week he spent at home while he was on medication.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a condition where the main blood vessel (aorta) that supplies blood to the abdominal organs, pelvis, and legs becomes abnormally large or balloons outward like a worn tyre.  It is most often seen in males over age 60 who have one or more risk factors. The larger the aneurysm, the more likely it is to rupture and burst open.
Aneurysms develop slowly over many years and often have no symptoms. If an aneurysm expands quickly or ruptures, symptoms may develop suddenly.
Ruptured aortic aneurysms are commonly fatal and time is of the essence in diagnosing and treating the condition. Following Mr Meade’s arrival to hospital on the night in question, a multidisciplinary team was mobilised.
Mr Meade’s aneurysm was repaired by a minimally invasive endovascular approach under local anaesthesia while fully awake. An endovascular stent graft manufactured in Galway by Medtronic was used in the procedure.
The minimally invasive approach in this particular case led to a speedy recovery and discharge to home within one week of admission to hospital.
“Since my discharge I have had time to understand the serious condition I was in and I have no doubt if it wasn’t for your expertise and excellent care my outcome may have been a lot different,” Jerry wrote in a letter to the hospital.
Consultant vascular surgeon Mr Eamon Kavanagh said about 50 aneurysm operations are carried out at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital each year, two-thirds of these by an endovascular approach. More than 200 endovascular aeneurysm operations have now been carried out in Limerick, the vast majority of these elective procedures.