BUS INES S , B ROOKLYN S T Y LE
Dr. Enrico Ascher provides the best vascular care
We don’t have to travel to Manhattan
to get the best vascular medical
care because we have Dr. Enrico
Ascher, Chief of Vascular and Endovascular
Surgery at NYU Langone
Hospital-Brooklyn, and founder of
the Vascular Institute of New York.
Dr. Ascher is an internationally
recognized vascular surgeon who pioneered
several techniques that are
now utilized worldwide. In addition
to being one of the most experienced
surgeons in this country with over
25,000 procedures and operations performed
over a 3 decade span he finds
time to author and co-author over 300
scientific articles in addition to be the
Chief-editor of a classic textbook in
vascular surgery. His enormous contributions
to the minimally invasive
management of vascular diseases
including aortic aneurysms, stroke
prevention, wound care, varicose
veins and angioplasty and stenting
for PAD have not gone unnoticed. Dr.
Ascher is the only surgeon in the tristate
region to be elected as President
of the Society for Vascular Surgery as
well as The World Federation of Vascular
Societies. During his tenure as
leader of these societies Dr. Ascher
was able to help shape the specialty
and reached out to the medical community
in a partnership to improve
the vascular health of the US population.
Dr. Ascher conceived and develop
the first clinical guidelines for
the management of vascular diseases
and he is recognized by his peers as a
superb surgeon with tremendous talent.
As an example of one of his creative
contributions one can describe
his technique of performing balloon
angioplasty and stenting (in patients
who experience pain in the legs upon
walking) without the use of potentially
harmful contrast material and
with no exposure to radiation!
Dr. Ascher also developed the
mini-incision carotid surgery where
a life threatening plaque can be safely
removed from the artery via one inch
small cut instead of 5-7 inch incision
in the neck. “We have the lowest rate
of complications in the country since
I have not had a single major issue
with hundreds of patient treated with
this technique” - says Dr. Ascher
His groundbreaking techniques
have been adapted worldwide as they
causes less trauma to the patient.
Limb salvage is yet another field
in which Dr. Ascher has earned acclaim.
“We are the first to create a comprehensive
care plan that has vascular
medical specialists and surgeons
working together to treat patients,”
he says. For the most part, vascular
surgeons elsewhere work separately
from vascular medicine physicians,
he says. But by working as a team,
the patient is assured of optimum,
unbiased treatment.
Patients from New York City and
surrounding states have sought Dr.
Ascher’s services, after being told by
other institutions that their limbs
could not be salvaged, and that amputation
was the only option. Yet,
Dr. Ascher and his team were able
to transform their lives by utilizing
COURIER L 10 IFE, MAY 31–JUNE 6, 2019 M BR B G
techniques they developed to save
the limbs.
“These patients are now walking
on their own two feet,” he says.
Research, studying, and learning
are Dr. Ascher’s passions. He
was the first to perform bypass to the
plantar arteries of the foot, and this
is now widely considered standard
procedure for limb salvage.
Swelling of the legs is a common
problem that causes tremendous
pain, inhibiting lifestyles. This is
another area in which the Vascular
Institute can help, as Dr. Ascher has
published extensively on the subject
of varicose veins. He and his team of
board certified vascular specialists
have performed more than 15,000
laser procedures for the treatment
of varicose veins and leg swelling,
offering several different devices to
customize treatment plans for the
patients who come to his Vascular
Center for relief of symptoms or
for aesthetic reasons. He notes that
swelling of the legs can be caused
by veins that are not visible, so a
thorough examination is really important
to detect the cause of these
problems and to fix them to obtain a
meaningful result.
More than 20 years ago Dr. Ascher
was helping people with aortic
aneurysms — ballooning of the arteries
in the stomach or chest.
“We are so comfortable with
the new, modern techniques, we
are sending patients home the same
day. Just 5 years ago we were keeping
patients for at least 2 days in the
hospital,” he says. “They leave with
a small puncture in the groin, go
home with no pain, and have dinner
with their families.”
This potentially life-threatening
issue is more common than people
realize, he says, and is often found
accidentally when patients undergo
ultrasounds or CAT scans.
“When it becomes painful, these
aneurysms (ballooning of the arteries)
are ready to pop with critical
consequences. So it’s better to fix
them when they achieve a certain
size,” he says.
Notably, the Vascular Institute
was the first wound care center in
New York, and remains one of the
busiest wound care centers in the
area.D
r. Ascher’s esteemed staff includes
Dr. Anil Hingorani, Dr. Natalie
Marks, Dr. Sareh Rajaee, and
Eleanora Iadgarova, a nurse practitioner.
The practice is open every day,
including weekends, and the staff
can always find an opening to accommodate
patients who need immediate
treatment, says the doctor.
Vascular Institute of New York
960 50th St.between Ninth and 10th
avenues in Borough Park, (718) 438–
3800, www.vascularnyc.com. Open
every day, 8 am – 5 pm. Additional
locations: 9920 Fourth Ave. in Bay
Ridge; 5801 Woodside Ave., Queens;
97-32 63rd Rd., Queens; 432 E. 149th
St. in the Bronx.
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
They don’t just sell cookies!
A local Girl Scout troop
hosted a kid-organized career
carnival on May 17 in Marine
Park, focusing on preparing
young women for their professional
futures.
Troop 2-126 put on the event
at Good Shepherd Catholic
Academy, teaching the next
generation of female pioneers
about science, technology, engineering
and mathematics, said
the troop’s leader.
“It was a great introduction
to possible careers in science
and technology, as a lot of
women are taking more of an
interest in STEM fi elds,” said
Michele Kelly.
The young women set up
six stations, where attendees
learned about various aspects
of the tech-driven future.
“They built robots out of recycled
materials, because girl
scouts have to go green,” said
Kelly. “They had a movement
station where they learned to
dance like robots. We had a
station where the girls interviewed
one of the parents, who
works as a technology teacher
with the Department of Education.
And we had the kids refl
ect on how this could affect
their careers.”
As part of the effort, the 16-
member troop created a functioning
website to promote the
carnival, according to Kelly,
called the event a success, giving
credit to the girls, who range in
age from 5 to 16 years old.
GIRL POWER: Some Girl Scouts show off masks (left) in the shape of robots,
while others sketch robots at the Career Carnival at Good Shepherd
Church in Madison. Photos By Steve Solomonson
Next gen female pioneers
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/www.vascularnyc.com