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You don’t have to tell the 80 people who showed up last month for free vascular screenings that early detection is one of the best ways to prevent life-threatening health problems.
Thanks to BWH physicians and staff who volunteered at the day-long screening, many of these patients discovered they have significantly high blood pressure, carotid stenosis or abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). They left the screening equipped with the education to control or prevent these conditions, and the next steps to take for care.
“These are all conditions that, if left untreated, can cause serious health problems down the road,” said Matt Quin, RN, assistant nurse manager of Radiology and the Neurosciences ICU.
Screenings like this help catch silent disease early, and those who signed up understood the importance of doing so, said Richard Baum, MD, chief of the Division of Angiography and Interventional Radiology. “We had more than 80 people turn out on Mother’s Day weekend in the worst possible weather,” he said.
In addition to varicose veins, AAA, carotid plaque and high cholesterol and blood sugar, physicians found in three patients conditions they were not screening for—a uterine fibroid, a baker’s cyst and a thyroid nodule. Early detection allows physicians to monitor patients’ progress and prevent the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, for example, or a heart attack or stroke caused by peripheral arterial disease, for which patients also were screened.
More than 15,000 Americans die of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms each year, according to the American Vascular Association. People with peripheral arterial disease are three times more likely than the average person to die of heart attacks or strokes.
Physicians discussed with each patient their results and determined the next steps for care. Appointments at the appropriate clinics were scheduled for those who needed treatment, and their primary care providers were notified. Physicians referred patients with high blood pressure to their primary care physicians and sent letters alerting them to the condition.
Patients were so pleased that many have called BWH to say thank you.
“I am extremely proud that the spirit of volunteerism is alive and well at BWH,” Baum said of the physicians, nurses, housestaff, x-ray technologists, administrators and others who showed their commitment to public health by giving up a Saturday for the screening.