from hundreds of reviews.
Private Aortic Surgery for Canadians
An aortic aneurysm is often found by accident, causes no symptoms, and is then handed back to you as a monitoring schedule. We help Canadians move from watching and waiting to a surgical opinion from specialists who work on the aorta every week.
- ESpecialist Review of Your Aortic Imaging.
- EAccess Dedicated Aortic Programs Abroad.
- EMove From Monitoring to a Surgical Plan.
Between scans is a difficult place to sit.
- EAortic disease is judged in millimetres, and in how quickly those millimetres change. We put your scans in front of surgeons who read aortic imaging constantly and can tell you what your measurements actually mean for surgical timing.
- EWe collect your CT angiograms, echocardiograms and prior reports, arrange the specialist review, secure an operating date, and plan your follow-up imaging.
- Eoot, arch, descending and abdominal repairs are genuinely different operations requiring different skill sets. We match your segment of the aorta to a surgeon who repairs that segment often.
Surgical centers across Canada, USA & Europe.
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Complete care coordination - We assist with every detail.
Matched by Procedure & Complexity
Not Every Heart Program is an Aortic Program
Aortic surgery is concentrated work. A surgeon who replaces aortic roots regularly, or reconstructs arches regularly, or deploys branched grafts regularly, develops judgement that general cardiac experience alone does not produce. We help Canadians reach established surgical centers of excellence across Canada, the USA and Europe, matching each patient to specialists by the segment of aorta involved, the complexity of the repair and their overall health. From records and specialist review through to scheduling, travel and recovery planning, our team coordinates the entire pathway.
Understanding Your Surgical Options
Aortic Surgery Tailored to Your Diagnosis
The decision in aortic surgery is rarely just whether to operate. It is which operation, through which approach, and at what point. Open repair, endovascular grafting, valve-sparing techniques and staged reconstruction all carry different trade-offs, and eligibility for each is decided by anatomy and imaging rather than preference. A specialist review is where those options get separated out.
We can help you explore care for:
- NAortic root aneurysm
- NDescending thoracic aneurysm
- NAortic dissection
- NAscending aortic aneurysm
- NThoracoabdominal aneurysm
- NBicuspid valve aortopathy
- NAortic arch aneurysm
- NAbdominal aortic aneurysm
- NPrevious aortic repair
From first scan review to final follow-up.
Aortic cases move across imaging, cardiology, surgery, anaesthesia and follow-up — and most delays happen in the gaps between them. Our team holds the whole sequence in one place.
Patient surgical experience
Stories from recent cardiac surgery procedures.
“I had been rescanned twice with no real change in plan. Getting a specialist to walk through my results was the first time I felt I understood my own situation.”
“The process was organized from the first phone call. My records, the consultation and the surgery date were all handled without me having to chase anything.”
“Travelling for surgery sounded daunting. Having one person coordinate the appointments, the hospital and the trip home made it far less stressful than I expected.”
Private Cardiac Surgery Options
Specializing in private heart surgery solutions.
Heart Valve Repair
Repair or replace damaged heart valves.
Aortic Surgery
Repair or replace damaged sections of the aorta.
Congenital Heart Surgery
Repair structural defects of the heart.
Heart Transplant Surgery
Replace a failing heart with a donor heart.
Arrhythmia Surgery
Surgically correct abnormal heart rhythms.
Coronary Artery Bypass
Bypass blocked arteries to restore blood flow.
SURGICAL EXPERTISE MEETS TECHNOLOGY
Advanced imaging and planning for aortic repair.
The difference between a straightforward repair and a complex one is usually a few centimetres of anatomy — how close the aneurysm sits to the coronary arteries, the vessels feeding the brain, or the kidneys. Programs with dedicated aortic expertise have the imaging, planning tools and device options to work in those tight margins.
- NGated CT angiography and 3D reconstruction for precise measurement of every aortic segment.
- NValve-sparing root replacement at centers that perform the technique routinely.
- NCenterline imaging analysis to track aneurysm growth accurately between scans.
Expediting surgery access
We provide surgical options across Canada.
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Quebec
Nova Scotia
Yukon
What Canadians ask before aortic repair.
My aneurysm is being monitored. How do I know when it's time to operate?
Surgical timing is based on size, growth rate, the segment involved, your body size, and whether an inherited aortic condition or bicuspid aortic valve is present. Size alone does not settle it — an aneurysm growing steadily can warrant surgery before a larger, stable one does. A specialist review looks at your full imaging history rather than a single measurement.
I've been told to wait until my aneurysm reaches 5.5 cm. Could I be a candidate sooner?
Possibly. Current ACC/AHA guidance recognizes a lower surgical threshold of 5.0 cm for selected patients with root or ascending aneurysms, but only where the operation is performed by experienced surgeons working within a multidisciplinary aortic team. Thresholds can be lower again for heritable aortic conditions. This is one of the few areas of surgery where where your case is reviewed genuinely affects what you're eligible for.
How does a surgeon decide whether a repair will be durable?
A successful repair is not simply about whether the valve can be repaired. The surgeon must consider whether that repair is likely to function effectively over time. Valve anatomy, disease mechanism, tissue quality, heart function and the surgeon’s ability to achieve a durable result all factor into the recommendation. For some patients, replacement remains the better treatment.
Can I keep my own aortic valve if my root needs replacing?
Sometimes. Valve-sparing root replacement preserves your native valve and avoids lifelong anticoagulation, but it depends on the condition of the valve leaflets, the cause of the aneurysm and your anatomy. It is also technically demanding, and not every program performs it often. Whether it is offered to you can depend as much on the center as on your anatomy, which is why a second surgical opinion is worth having.
Can my aneurysm be repaired with a stent graft instead of open surgery?
It depends on where the aneurysm sits. Endovascular repair is well established for the abdominal and descending thoracic aorta. Aneurysms near branch vessels may require fenestrated or branched grafts made to your measurements, which takes planning time. Aneurysms of the root and ascending aorta generally still require open repair. Imaging determines which route is available.
My scans have reported different aortic measurements. Which one is correct?
This is common and usually explained by technique rather than actual change. Measurements vary depending on whether a CT, MRI or echocardiogram was used, whether the scan was ECG-gated, where along the aorta the measurement was taken, and whether the wall was included. Consistent, comparable imaging is what allows growth to be assessed reliably, and it is one of the first things a specialist review addresses.
What happens after aortic repair?
Not entirely. Aortic surgery is followed by ongoing imaging surveillance, blood pressure management and, for some patients, monitoring of aortic segments that were not repaired. We arrange the follow-up schedule before you travel and make sure your imaging and operative reports reach your team at home, so your care continues without a gap.
Start your care journey.
Send us a few details about your surgical needs. Our intake team will follow up within 24 – 48 hours to schedule a one-hour consultation.
