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'I have a lot to live for': Buffalo's Mercy Hospital performs first TAMBE repair

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo's Mercy Hospital is gaining national attention for a medical milestone performed last month.

Robert Herrmann and his daughter Chloe love metal detecting. But on their most recent hike, Herman felt something was wrong.

"My knees started to really kill me," he said. "I decided I better go have it checked out at my local doctor."

The 56-year-old was sent to a vascular surgeon in Olean. That's where he learned he had an aneurysm in his abdominal area.

Herrmann

Herrmann was then referred to a specialist, Dr. Brendon Reilly of Mercy Hospital.

"You can often identify aneurysms on a physical exam by feeling a pulsatile mass in the abdomen," said Dr. Reilly. "So, there are ways to pick up on it but unfortunately, oftentimes they're missed and found incidentally when people are having cat scans, ultrasounds."

Fortunately for Herrmann, a new treatment was approved in January called TAMBE or Thoracoabdominal Branch Endoprosthesis. It's an off-the-shelf endovascular treatment for aneurysmal illness.

"It's a minimally invasive way to fix aneurysms in the chest and abdomen," said Dr. Reilly. "We do the procedure through mostly punctures. Sometimes, we use a small incision in the arm but for our first case, we were able to do it without any incisions at all."

It's the first of its kind in Western New York. Herrmann said the alternative was in Cleveland.

"It's a good thing if it works out good," he said. "I'm hoping. I pray. I have a lot to live for. My little girl."