The Section of Vascular Surgery, directed by Gregorio A. Sicard, M.D., oversees the vascular diagnostic laboratory at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and also is responsible for the Vascular Surgery service.
Robert W. Thompson, M.D., leads a very productive National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded vascular research laboratory. The main focus of the vascular research laboratory is the role of matrix metallo-proteinases and smooth muscle cell apoptosis in aneurysmal degeneration. The lab recently launched a human pilot clinical trial on pharmacologic inhibition of metallo-proteinases in small aneurysms.
Brian G. Rubin, M.D., with grant support from the Lifeline Foundation, is studying the luminal surface factors responsible for early and late graft thrombosis.
Sicard, Rubin and Luis A. Sanchez, M.D., lead an active endovascular program for the treatment of aneurysmal and occlusive vascular disease. This team currently is participating in four separate trials of minimally invasive (endoluminal) treatment of vascular disease.
John A. Curci, M.D., has established a laboratory to investigate the pathobiology of human aneurysms. Prior investigations have revealed evidence of inflammation, protease elaboration, smooth muscle cell dysfunction and matrix remodeling. Ongoing studies will extend our current knowledge on two broad fronts. One is the evaluation of the response of smooth muscle cells to chemokine activation in vitro. This will help clarify the role of the inflammation and inflammatory mediators that are hallmarks of aneurysm pathology. The second line of interest utilizes fresh aortic tissue samples and leverages new techniques of microdissection. This will allow laboratory investigators, for the first time, to study the similarities and contrasts of the pathologic response of medial and intimal of smooth muscle and inflammatory cells.