Vascular Conditions
Made of arteries and veins, your vascular system gives your body access to oxygen-rich blood. Vascular conditions decrease blood flow, causing a variety of problems. For Kentuckians, the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute provides quality vascular care through its Comprehensive Vascular Clinic.
Just as heart disease affects the heart, vascular disease affects the blood vessels (arteries and veins). These vessels transport oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Once the blood reaches its destination, your vascular system carries it back to the heart and lungs, where it gets replenished with oxygen.
Genetics, high blood pressure and infection can cause vascular disease. In some cases, the cause of vascular disease is unknown.
Your risk for a vascular problem increases with:
- Age
- Diabetes
- Family history of vascular issues
- Injury or infection that affects the veins
- Obesity
- Physical inactivity
- Pregnancy
- Smoking
Vascular disease is often present with other cardiovascular conditions, such as heart failure, heart attack or stroke. However, these conditions don’t cause vascular disease.
A multidisciplinary team of vascular experts
Because every vascular condition is unique, having a multidisciplinary team on your side helps identify and correct the source of the problem. Through the UK Comprehensive Vascular Clinic, a multidisciplinary team collaborates on every step of your care. Members of your care team may include:
- Advanced practice providers
- Medical sonographers
- Nurses
- Pharmacists
- Social workers
- Vascular laboratory experts
- Vascular surgeons
- Wound care specialists
When you receive care at the UK Comprehensive Vascular Clinic, you’ll also have access to experts across UK HealthCare, including interventional nephrologists, orthopaedic foot and ankle specialists, plastic surgeons, podiatrists and others.
Conditions we treat
Some vascular conditions diagnosed and treated at the UK Comprehensive Vascular Clinic include:
Why choose the UK Comprehensive Vascular Clinic?
The UK Comprehensive Vascular Clinic is the only place in Kentucky where you can find all the providers you need in one place. You can see multiple specialists in a single visit, meaning you’ll get care in a timely and efficient manner. Our goal is to provide treatment that will lead you toward a positive long-term outcome.
To help identify the treatment that is right for you, we take a comprehensive view of your overall health. Our compassionate experts help you understand your condition so that you can make an informed decision about your treatment.
UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital is home to a state-of-the-art Accredited Vascular Laboratory. Here, providers offer a variety of noninvasive vascular imaging studies. Patients have access to such tests as an ankle-brachial index test – to measure blood pressure in the arms and legs to predict leg circulation – as well as multiple types of duplex ultrasounds – to identify areas where arteries in the legs are narrowed.
Our vascular lab uses advanced technology to examine blood vessels throughout your body, focusing on those supplying blood to major organs and tissues. These tests play a crucial role in diagnosing and treating various vascular conditions, including:
The Accredited Vascular Laboratory is accredited through the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). This designation means the laboratory has undergone a rigorous clinical review process to ensure the right tests are ordered for each patient and that the lab provides consistent, high-quality care. Ultimately, IAC certification means the lab meets guidelines to help ensure patients get the best possible results from imaging studies and treatments.
We also strive to improve vascular care for people around the world. As one of our region’s leading research hospitals, UK HealthCare participates in national and international clinical trials to research new treatment options. As a result, our patients have access to devices, new medicines and surgical therapies not available at many other vascular programs. UK HealthCare is currently involved in multiple trials for tools and devices to treat deep vein thrombosis and endovascular aneurysms.
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