DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Joseph Ricotta MD, Chairman of the Vascular Surgery Program at Delray Medical Center, is the first surgeon in Florida to operate on a patient using the Nectero Endovascular Aneurysm Stabilization Treatment (Nectero EAST®) System.

The procedure is an innovative potential treatment for small to mid-sized infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), a dangerous bulge or ballooning in the section of the aorta located in the abdomen below the kidneys and part of the largest blood vessel carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body. If an AAA ruptures or leaks, it causes bleeding in the abdomen – a life-threatening medical emergency requiring immediate medical attention.

Dr. Ricotta, who also serves as National Medical Director of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Surgery for Tenet Healthcare and founded and directs the FAU Vascular Surgery Fellowship and is a professor of surgery at FAU School of Medicine performed the procedure on June 18, 2024, as part of a groundbreaking clinical trial to test the efficacy and safety of the Nectero EAST system.

Current surgical or endovascular AAA treatments are reserved for AAAs larger than 5.5 cm in diameter for men and 5.0 cm for women, in symptomatic patients, or in rapidly expanding aneurysms. To date, randomized clinical trials have shown no survival advantage for repair of aneurysms with a diameter less than 5.5 cm. For that reason, smaller AAAs are traditionally monitored with serial ultrasounds or computed tomography (CT) surveillance. The patients enrolled in the Nectero EAST clinical trial included women with AAAs between 3.5cm-4.5cm and men with AAAs between 3.5cm-5.0cm.

The Nectero EAST system delivers a single-dose of 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) directly at the site of the AAA which is designed to prevent aneurysm growth or rupture and can allow patients to avoid future surgery for aneurysm repair. The drug is administered through a dual-balloon delivery catheter via the femoral artery. The procedure can be conducted under local anesthesia, takes under an hour to complete, and leaves no implant behind. 

“We are proud that Dr. Ricotta, a highly respected member of the Delray Medical Center Medical Staff, was selected to participate in this important clinical trial and we congratulate him on being the first surgeon in Florida to achieve this medical milestone,” said Heather Haverciak, the hospital’s CEO. “If proven safe and effective, this therapy has the potential to profoundly impact patients living with aneurysmal disease.”

AAAs, which occur in nearly 5% of the population, represent a significant public health problem. In the US, 4,500 deaths per year are attributed to AAA ruptures.  An additional 1,400 deaths annually result from attempted AAA repair. About 1.1 million patients in the US are estimated to have small- to mid-sized AAAs (3.5 – 5.0 cm in diameter).

Dr. Ricotta, a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the field of vascular and endovascular surgery, earned his undergraduate degree at Yale University and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. He completed his residency in general surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and was a traveling scholar and specialist registrar in vascular surgery at Oxford University in England. In addition, he completed a vascular and endovascular surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by an advanced endovascular surgery fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. He is the first surgeon in the U.S. to use endovascular robotics to perform minimally invasive vascular surgery and has authored more than 300 publications and delivered more than 500 lectures on the national and international stage.  He has been named a Castle Connolly “America’s Top Doctor” multiple times and earned a position on Newsweek’s “America’s Best Vascular Surgeons 2024” list.