3-Dedicated Cardiac Catheterization Labs

Services:

Cardiac Catheterizations: Diagnosis and Treatment with Balloons and Stents for patients with disease of the coronary arteries.  Diagnosis of heart pressures within the heart, the strength of the heart muscle and valve function.

Peripheral Vascular Procedures: Diagnosis and Treatment with Balloons, Stents and other treatments for patients with disease of the vessels in the legs.

Electrophysiology Study: Diagnosis and Treatment of patients with electrical abnormalities (heart rhythm) of the heart. Permanent Pacemakers, implantable Cardiac Defibrillators and Cardiac Resynchronization Device Implantation.

Patient Education:

Cardiac Catheterization: This is a procedure that looks at the arteries of the heart which give oxygen to the heart muscle.  The Cardiologist places catheters into the heart from the groin or wrist which can determine if disease is present in the blood vessels of the heart. If there is a blockage a balloon and/or stent can be placed to open up that area and improve the blood flow to the heart.

Peripheral  Procedures:  If a patient has pain in their legs or loss of a pulse this procedure can diagnosis a blockage in the blood vessels of the legs. The doctor places catheters into a blood vessel in the groin and injects contrast that will allow visualization of a blockage. If there is a blockage it can be treated with balloons, stents or a treatment called EKOS.

Electrophysiology Study: An electrophysiology study is a test to help a cardiologist diagnosis any   problems with a heart rhythm. The doctor who specializes in this is called an Electrophysiologist. The Electrophysiology doctor will place catheters from the groin or neck area to areas inside the heart.  The catheters have special electrodes that assist the doctor to diagnosis the abnormal heart rhythm. If the doctor finds an abnormal rhythm sometimes it can be treated by Radiofrequency Ablation. Some of the abnormal heart rhythms that can be treated by radio frequency ablation are atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardias and ventricular tachycardias.

Implantation of cardiac devices: If your cardiologist tells you have a too slow or too fast heart rhythm, sometimes they can be treated with implanted devices. A permanent pacemaker treats a slow heart rhythm.  An ICD (Implantable cardiac defibrillator) can treat a fast heart rhythm if the heart muscle is weakened. A Bi-ventricular cardiac defibrillator is used to help a weakened heart beat more efficiently by pacing and can also treat fast heart rhythms.