Renowned Bosnian and Herzegovinian scientist and expert in cardiovascular surgery, Prof. Dr. Dragan Piljić, Primarius, Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, and Head of the Department of Vascular Surgery at the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, UKC Tuzla, continues to achieve remarkable success. His groundbreaking work has once again been recognized through the publication of his research in the world’s most prestigious and widely cited scientific journals.
After the recent publication of his paper on the “Piljić Method” in a prestigious Japanese journal—demonstrating a significant reduction in complications, ICU stays, and overall hospitalization time for aortic and major abdominal blood vessel surgeries—Prof. Dr. Dragan Piljić continues to make groundbreaking contributions to the field of vascular surgery.
In his latest publication for Current Medical Imaging, a journal indexed in top-tier databases such as Current Contents, he presents the first description of a markedly tortuous thoracoabdominal aorta with aneurysmal dilatation of the infrarenal segment and both iliac arteries—highlighting this condition as an emerging global challenge in vascular surgery.
“A tortuous aorta is not a common occurrence in vascular surgery, but when combined with aneurysmal disease, it can significantly complicate both diagnostics and treatment. The difficulty arises when navigating catheters or guides through these affected vessels,” explains Professor Piljić.
Professor Piljić further highlights that the article presents a successfully performed surgical procedure to treat aneurysmal disease in an extremely tortuous aorta. The procedure involved replacing the aneurysmally dilated segment of the aorta and iliac arteries and implementing an aortobifemoral bypass while preserving the hypogastric artery. This approach ensures proper blood flow to the legs and maintains circulation in the pelvic and perineal region—an area where compromised blood supply can often lead to severe complications, and in many cases, even a fatal outcome.
These findings underscore the significance of the performed procedure and further validate the “Piljić Method,” which is explicitly highlighted in the paper.
Additionally, Prof. Piljić, alongside Dr. Ajdin Umihanić, contributed to a collaborative project between the Academy of Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Turkish Medical Academy. This initiative brought together 47 authors from around the world, culminating in the publication of a multicenter study titled “Mortality Associated with Surgical Site Infections Following Cardiac Surgery: Insights from the International ID-IRI Study.” The study was published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, a leading journal of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.
