A surgical team at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield has performed 1,000 minimally invasive stroke-prevention procedures. The hospital says his surgical team is the first worldwide to reach that milestone.

Dr. Brian Peterson, a board-certified vascular surgeon, and his team at St. Luke's Heart and Vascular Institute announced the milestone on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The procedures use Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR), a technique that temporarily reverses blood flow away from the brain while a stent is placed in the carotid artery. The reversal diverts loose plaque fragments before they can reach the brain and cause a stroke.

Carotid artery disease occurs when plaque narrows the neck arteries that supply blood to the brain. It causes about 10% of strokes, according to the Mayo Clinic. Stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability in the United States.

Traditional carotid surgery carries a risk of stroke during the operation itself. Peterson told FOX 2 in an interview that aired Monday, Oct. 12, that the danger comes from manipulating the artery. "With this tech, our procedure, our risk of stroke is about half that of the traditional operation of carotid artery activity," he said.

The Society for Vascular Surgery describes TCAR as a clinically proven procedure. During the operation, blood flows through an external system where a filter captures any loose material before the blood is returned through a tube in the patient's upper leg. Most patients spend one night in the hospital and go home the next day, according to St. Luke's announcement.

Peterson practices at St. Luke's Vascular Center on South Woods Mill Road in Chesterfield.

Andy Bagnall, president and chief executive officer of St. Luke's, credited the full surgical team for the milestone. St. Luke's, which holds exclusive alliance provider status in the St. Louis market for the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular, and Thoracic Institute, operates a 493-bed hospital in Chesterfield and 30 locations across the region.

The world-first designation comes from the hospital’s announcement. The milestone was announced by the hospital and first reported by FOX 2.

The team also participates in TCAR research. In August, Peterson's team enrolled the first patient worldwide in Boston Scientific's ENTRUST Study, an international registry that aims to track long-term outcomes for roughly 5,000 TCAR patients. That study remains open to new participants.