Dr. Katsnelson is the founder of the USA Vein Clinics and Vascular Centers and of the Chicago Heart Institute, and he is also a member of the American College of Phlebology. He is a Cardiovascular and Thoracic surgeon by training, and performed complex life-saving heart surgeries, including valve replacements and repairs and heart transplants. He started treating patients with severe venous insufficiency, when a non-invasive laser therapy became available. Prior to the laser therapy, patients with venous disease were treated with a procedure called stripping, and the novel laser treatment made a tremendous difference in the patients’ lives that made Dr. Katsnelson change his focus from heart surgery to the treatment of venous disease. He is the founder and the physician of the only coast-to-coast Vein Clinics in the United States, USA Vein Clinics.

“I was immediately amazed by the results of this minimally invasive treatment, and at how people improved so quickly after this procedure, how well they tolerated the treatment, and how it changed their lives,” he says. “They would come in with swelling and severe pain, sometimes even non-healing ulcers, that they had been suffering from for years, and suddenly a 15-minute procedure would completely change their way of living.”

He and his wife Dr. Flora Katsnelson, natives of the former Soviet Union, opened their first clinic in Chicago in 2005. The second clinic was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 2007, and followed by the third clinic in Boston, MA. A city that was very dear to both: Dr. Yan completed his fellowship in heart surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Dr. Flora did her medical school rotations there; and that is the place where their identical twin daughters were born. After the East coast, they opened a clinic on the West coast, in Los Angeles, in 2009 and now they have more than 40 locations in 11 states.

“Our mission is to provide the best vein and vascular care to all patients who need it, giving them excellent and state of the art medical care that is best for them and is affordable,” Dr. Katsnelson says.

To achieve this, USA Vein Clinics accepts most insurances, its’ team of doctors are highly specialized in cardiovascular care and communicate in an array of languages, which is not the case in most other vein clinics.

“One of the things that is unique about USA Vein Clinics is our doctors, who exclusively specialize in cardiovascular disease: they are either advanced surgeons, vascular or cardio, or interventional radio or cardiologists. They are extremely talented doctors, and combined they speak more than 10 languages,” he says. “We provide care to a diverse patient population.”

The Endovenous Laser treatment itself is quick, and takes about 15-20 minutes. Under ultrasound guidance, laser fiber is inserted into the vein, and laser energy is delivered while a thin fiberoptic laser is drawn out of the vein. Patients first complete an initial consultation where the doctor will provide a consultation with an ultrasound evaluation and a full mapping of all the veins in the leg. The doctor will discuss the treatment plan and expected results. “We connect the dots between the symptoms and the ultrasound findings, and then connect them to the diseased veins, and when you combine those three things and administer proper treatment, the results are amazing,” Dr. Katsnelson says.

Due to high demand, the Clinics also offer treatment for women who suffer from excessive menstrual bleeding and pain from fibroids. This treatment of fibroid disease is called uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), a minimally invasive office procedure that takes about an hour and is an excellent non-surgical alternative to a hysterectomy.

The USA Vein Clinics and Vascular Centers are now also offering a new procedure for peripheral artery disease (PAD). Sometimes heavy smokers or others with high blood pressure get blockages in the leg arteries and might need surgery or even an amputation. In order to avoid losing the leg this treatment opens the clogged arteries and restores proper circulation.

“I really enjoy helping people with real problems. Their feet are swollen and they can’t wear shoes their size, their legs are tired, and they can’t function after hours of standing at work. After the treatment, the patients have a new life,” Dr. Yan Katsnelson says. “We can make people feel 20 years younger, and they tell me that all the time. Beauty is just a side effect. When they feel better, they have more energy because blood is circulating better, so they’re happier, which makes them look better too.”

Another way Drs. Yan and Flora Katsnelson help others is through giving back.
“We’re part of a diverse community, which we appreciate, so we try to give back. One way is through supporting the Save A Child’s Heart project, which saves the lives of many children around the world by providing heart surgeries in a hospital in Israel,” Dr. Katsnelson says.

Dr. Yan Katsnelson has a connection to this hospital because he worked there for nine years. Save A Child’s Heart organization saved the lives of more than 4500 children from more than 50 countries through heart surgery and rehabilitation, all free of charge. The program is expanding too, opening programs in Tanzania, Ethiopia, China and other countries.

“These kids don’t have alternatives. If they don’t have access to surgery, they would die,” Katsnelson says.

Drs. Flora and Yan Katsnelson started a chapter of the Save A Child’s Heart organization in Chicago, which had its first event in September and will have a fundraising gala in May 2017. Their children, twin girls, Elise and Beatrice, who are sophomores at Glenbrook North, want to follow in their parents’ footsteps, and have organized the first ever high school chapter of the Save A Child’s Heart organization. Instead of having a party for their Bat Mitzvah, as most North Shore kids do, they donated the money that they would have spent on the party to the Save A Child’s Heart and thus saved the lives of two children: one from Ethiopia and one from Romania.

“For me, through this organization and through the USA Vein Clinics, it’s all about helping people live better lives,” Katsnelson says.

USA Vein Clinics
847-593-8460, 4141 Dundee Rd, Northbrook, IL 60062, http://www.usaveinclinics.com/locations/northbrook-il