The most current care
Having a high-tech facility allows our region's heart and vascular specialists
to provide patients with the most current procedures, devices, treatments and
medications, including:Interventional cardiology
Drug-eluting stents
Brachytherapy
FilterWire EX Embolic Protection System
Coronary angioplasty
Electrophysiology
Ablation
Biventricular pacing
Defibrillator implantation
Pacemaker implantation
Cardiac Surgery
Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), including beating-heart bypass
surgery
Endoscopic artery and vein harvesting
Heart valve replacement and repair
Minimally invasive bypass surgery
Transmyocardial laser revascularization
Thoracic surgery
Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS)
Mediastinoscopy
Mediastinal Surgery
Airway Surgery
Esophageal Surgery
Thoracic Aortic Endograft Surgery
Cardiovascular diagnostics
Vascular Lab
Diagnostic cardiac catheterization
Cardiac and vascular ultrasound (echocardiography)
Doppler exams (vascular ultrasound)
Electrocardiography
Stress echocardiography
Transesophageal echocardiography
Nuclear treadmill
Cardiac education and support
Cardiac rehabilitation
Cardiac risk assessment
Interventional cardiology
Drug-eluting stents
Stents are small wire tubes that keep arteries open after an angioplasty is
performed to clear the artery. A drug-eluting stent is just like a traditional
stent, except it is coated with an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory substance
that helps prevent re-clogging, thus reducing the instances and need for more
interventions or procedures such as bypass surgery. Click
for more information about angioplasty and stents.
Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy treats restenosis, which occurs when an artery begins to re-clog
with scar issue after an angioplasty. It consists of radiating the site of the
re-clogging after the blockage has been removed to prevent scar tissue from
returning. During the procedure a catheter is used to deliver a ribbon of
radioactive isotopes to the blockage site. The ribbon stays at the site for
three to four minutes and the catheter is removed.
FilterWire EX Embolic Protection System
FilterWire treats saphenous vein graft disease (SVG). SVG happens when the
saphenous vein from the leg used in coronary artery bypass surgery develops
atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque that clogs the vein. The FilterWire System
is designed to reduce complications during angioplasty and stent procedures in
those with SVG by capturing the plaque that becomes dislodged during these
procedures that might otherwise cause a heart attack.
Coronary angioplasty
Angioplasty is the opening of heart blood vessels through a variety of means.
Among them is balloon dilation, mechanical stripping of the interior of the
blood vessel, injection of materials designed to dissolve blood clots or
placement of a stent (A small device that can be placed in the artery after
angioplasty to ensure that the artery remains open). Click
here for more information about angioplasty.
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Electrophysiology
This major new service, the only one of its kind in the four
northwest counties, provides diagnosis and treatment for disorders that affect
the heart's electrical system and cause rhythm problems. Heart rhythm disorders
are managed in a number of ways, including medications, pacemakers, implantable
defibrillators, invasive electrophysiologic procedures and biventricular
pacemakers. St. Joseph's electrophysiology program uses sophisticated computer
technology with advanced 3D mapping. It is one of only a few such systems in the
state.
Ablation
During ablation a catheter delivers radio frequency energy to the area of the
heart that is causing an abnormal rhythm. This area, which is quite small, is
cauterized which stops abnormal rhythm. Ablation has more than a 90 percent
success rate, meaning that patients no longer have to take medication or have
follow-up treatments for their abnormal rhythms. Click
here for more information about ablation for atrial fibrillation.
Biventricular pacing
This technology is used to treat patients who have congestive heart failure. In
a normal heart, the regions of the left ventricle pump in sync. The electrical
system can be impaired enough to make the regions of the left ventricle pump out
of sync in a person with congestive heart failure, so not enough blood gets
pumped to the body, which exacerbates heart failure symptoms such as shortness
of breath and fatigue. To remedy this, physicians resynchronize the timing of
the electrical impulses in the heart with biventricular pacemakers that help the
regions of the left ventricle pump in time to increase efficiency of
contraction.
Pacemaker implantation
A pacemaker is an electrical system that reads and delivers cardiac electrical
impulses. By "reading" these signals, the pacemaker is able to monitor
the heart's activity and respond appropriately. A pacemaker helps to pace the
heart when the natural rate is too slow (bradycardia) to pump enough blood to
the body.
Click
for more information about pacemakers for bradycardia.
Click
for more information about pacemakers for atrial fibrillation.
Defibrillator implantation
This involves the placement of a device to monitor the regularity of the
heartbeat and deliver an electric shock should the heart begin fibrillation
(fast or slow twitching of cardiac muscle fibers).
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Cardiovascular diagnostics
St. Joseph Hospital Vascular Lab
The vascular lab at St. Joseph Hospital offers a complete range of diagnostic
procedures utilizing state of the art equipment. More
information on the Vascular Lab.
Diagnostic cardiac catheterization
Cardiac catheterization allows your doctor to "see" how well your
heart is functioning by inserting a long, narrow tube called a catheter into a
blood vessel in your arm or leg, and guiding it to your heart with the aid of a
special X-ray machine. Dye is injected through the catheter so that X-ray movies
of your valves, coronary arteries and heart chambers can be created. Your doctor
uses cardiac catheterization to: evaluate or confirm the presence of heart
disease evaluate heart muscle function determine the need for further treatment
(angioplasty or bypass surgery). Click
for more information about cardiac catheterization.
Cardiac and vascular echocardiography
This specialized ultrasound tests uses sound waves to create images of the heart
that can be viewed on a video monitor. Click
for more information about echocardiography.
Doppler exams
Doppler created ultrasound makes possible the real time viewing of tissues,
blood flow and organs that cannot be observed using any other method. Click
for more information about Doppler studies.
Stress echocardiography
Records the flow of red blood cells through the cardiovascular system by means
of Doppler ultrasound. Click for more information about
echocardiography
Transesophageal echocardiography
A transducer (a device that converts input energy into another form for output)
attached to a fiberoptic endoscope is placed into the esophagus to provide
two-dimensional cardiographic images or Doppler information. It is especially
helpful in detecting enlargement of the cardiac chambers, septal defects and
pericardial effusion and in assessing valvular function. Click for more
information about echocardiography
Electrocardiography
Graphic record, displayed as voltage changes, of the heart's action obtained by
recording the electrical currents traversing the heart muscle. Click for more
information about electrocardiography.
Nuclear treadmill
Very small amounts of radioactive material are introduced into the body, where
they travel to specific organs or tissues. Computers, scanners, cameras and
other sophisticated equipment then spot the radioactive tracers and provide
extremely detailed information for radiologists. The treadmill stress test
compares blood flow in the heart at rest and also during peak exercise. Areas of
the heart that are not receiving a normal blood supply appear dark or
"abnormal" on a nuclear scan, showing tissue that has been damaged by
heart attacks or blocked arteries, or where earlier medical measures, such as
bypass grafts, have failed.
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Thoracic surgery Thoracic surgery treats diseases of the chest
including coronary artery disease; cancers of the lung, esophagus, and chest
wall.
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