At the University Clinical Center Tuzla (UKC Tuzla), a press conference was held to present a new advancement in vascular surgery for the treatment of aortic aneurysms, performed at the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery.
The innovative procedure in open surgery for giant aortoiliac aneurysms, which preserves hypogastric artery flow, was developed by Prof. Dr. Dragan Piljić and Dr. Nail Šehić from UKC Tuzla, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Juš Kšela from the Clinical Center Ljubljana and Prof. Dr. Mario Lescan from the University of Tübingen, Germany.
This professional achievement was published in the prestigious journal General Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the official publication of the Japanese Society for Thoracic Surgery and the Japanese Society for Cardiovascular Surgery. Following publication, the Japanese Society for Thoracic Surgery granted an exclusive license for the procedure.
The media were addressed by the Director of the University Clinical Center Tuzla, Prof. Dr. Šekib Umihanić, who emphasized that this achievement builds on years of innovation in vascular surgery at UKC Tuzla.
“Four years ago, Prof. Dr. Piljić presented a surgical method for treating the abdominal aorta and pelvic arteries, which has since been widely adopted and highly evaluated. Following that success, today we are proud to present a new surgical strategy developed by Prof. Dr. Piljić together with Dr. Nail Šehić, in collaboration with colleagues from the Clinical Center Ljubljana and the University of Tübingen in Germany. This method, designed for the treatment of aneurysms of large abdominal blood vessels, has been published in a leading Japanese professional journal and is supported by successful results from a growing number of operations. Cardiovascular surgery at UKC Tuzla is achieving one success after another, and as the management of this institution, our role is to ensure the best possible working conditions so that our surgeons can continue to perform world-class procedures. Ultimately, all of these efforts serve a single purpose, improving the quality of care and outcomes for our patients,” said Prof. Dr. Umihanić.
The press conference, in addition to the Director of the University Clinical Center Tuzla, Prof. Dr. Šekib Umihanić, and the authors of the new procedure, Prof. Dr. Dragan Piljić and Dr. Nail Šehić, was attended by the Minister of Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Nediljko Rimac, the Minister of Health of Tuzla Canton, Dr. Dušanka Bećirović, academician Prof. Dr. Mirsada Hukić, and the President of the Board of Directors of the University Clinical Center Tuzla, Mr. Emir Softić.
The Minister of Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Nediljko Rimac, expressed his great satisfaction at being present at such an important professional event. He emphasized that the University Clinical Center Tuzla has always been at the forefront of healthcare innovation and development strategies, and that both he personally and the Ministry of Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina fully support the institution’s management and medical staff.
“This is truly a great day for the University Clinical Center Tuzla, but also for Tuzla Canton. The method and results presented today by Director Umihanić bring me genuine joy and encouragement as a minister. I am proud that Tuzla continues to set high standards in the healthcare profession. I am also aware of the effort, dedication, and sacrifice required for this method to be recognized and accepted as a new standard in vascular surgery,” said Minister Rimac.
The scientific significance of the new method was highlighted at the conference by academician Prof. Dr. Mirsada Hukić.
“The University Clinical Center Tuzla serves as a foundation for scientific research and provides a strong framework for the advancement of experts and scientists. Every new method and innovation introduced here represents an important step forward for the institution, for science, and for the medical profession. I believe we can all be proud of the University Clinical Center Tuzla, which continues to achieve remarkable results despite challenging conditions,” emphasized Prof. Dr. Hukić.
Prof. Dr. Dragan Piljić explained the method to journalists, emphasizing that its key advantage in treating giant aortoiliac aneurysms is the preservation of the hypogastric artery.
“Today we are talking about a condition known as giant aortoiliac aneurysms, essentially a severe enlargement of the aorta. Until recently, the aorta was described in medical terminology as the largest blood vessel, but since last year it has been conventionally classified as an organ. These aneurysms affect not only the aorta itself but also the major blood vessels branching from it, which supply blood to the pelvic organs and legs. For the past 40 years, the standard treatment has been a procedure known as exclusion resection, most often performed as an aorto-bifemoral bypass. However, this required exclusion of the internal iliac arteries, also known as the hypogastric arteries, from the circulation. The loss of these arteries led to a high rate of postoperative complications, including ischemia, necrosis of the gluteal muscles, ischemia of the colon and bladder, and in some cases erectile dysfunction. In many patients, these complications were severe and even fatal,” explained Prof. Dr. Piljić.
“Today we present a new procedure and a new approach. In addition to performing the standard aorto- bifemoral bypass, we now create an additional bypass on one of the two iliac arteries. We extend this bypass to the end of the aneurysm, where we sew in a graft, which is then connected back to the graft placed in the aorta. By adding this new bypass, we have developed a new surgical strategy, a new pathway and a new technique designed for the benefit of our patients. With this approach, mortality has been eliminated and we have seen virtually no major complications, apart from a few minor ones reported in our published paper. I believe this represents not only a significant advancement for patient care, but also an important motivation for young colleagues to continue advancing along this path,” said Prof. Dr. Dragan Piljić, one of the authors of the method.
