Interventional Cardiology
If your doctor has diagnosed you with coronary artery disease, or narrowing of the arteries that feed your heart, Riverside Heart & Vascular Institute is ready to help. Over the last generation, new tools have revolutionized the treatment of diseased coronary arteries, which can cause chest pain (angina) and heart attacks. Surgeons can now eliminate blockages that reduce blood flow to the heart using minimally invasive instruments and medical devices, which means a speedy recovery and less time in the hospital for patients.
To request an appointment close to home, call (844) 404-4787 or fill out our quick form. Or, find a Riverside heart expert anytime online:
Cardiac Catheterization
This groundbreaking medical technique allows your doctor to insert a slender tube called a catheter into a small incision in the skin (usually the groin or wrist) and then maneuvers it through your body’s blood vessels until it reaches the heart.
This may be used to perform a variety of procedures, including a coronary angiogram that detects blockages in the arteries. If an angiogram shows that your arteries are narrowed, you may be a candidate for a treatment called balloon angioplasty.
Balloon Angioplasty
Using cardiac catheterization, your doctor will insert a deflated balloon that is attached to the tip of the catheter. Once the catheter is in place at the site of the blockage, the surgeon inflates the balloon. As it expands it pushes aside the plaque, widening the flow space inside the artery. Once the artery is open, the surgeon slowly withdraws the catheter. This procedure is also sometimes called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Stenting
Once a narrowed or blocked artery has been re-opened, the danger isn’t necessarily over. Arteries that have been unclogged often narrow or close again later. To reduce the risk, your doctor may choose to insert a device called a stent in the part of an artery that was reopened.
A stent is a small mesh tube made of metal that is inserted with the catheter. The stent is placed around the deflated balloon at the tip of a catheter in the balloon angioplasty process. Once the balloon is inflated, the stent is set into place. The balloon is then deflated and the catheter is withdrawn, leaving behind the stent to prop open the artery. Some stents (known as drug-eluting stents) are coated with medicine that helps prevent arteries from re-clogging.
TAVR
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an exciting alternative for Riverside patients with severe aortic stenosis who can't have open-heart surgery.
With severe stenosis, buildup in the aortic valve prevents blood from flowing freely from the heart to the body. Patients suffer shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, irregular heartbeat, even sudden death - and many aren't treated because of their high risk for surgery. That's why we’re committed to bringing TAVR to our community.
The narrowed valve allows less blood to flow through, and as a result, less oxygen-rich blood is pumped out to your body.
Watchman Device for Treating Atrial Fibrillation (Afib)
The Watchman is for patients who have atrial fibrillation not caused by heart valve problems, have been recommended to take blood-thinning medicines by their doctor but need an alternative to blood thinners because they have a history of bleeding or a lifestyle that puts them at risk for bleeding.
The lightweight, umbrella- or parachute-shaped Watchman device is inserted by catheter through a recipient’s blood vessel accessed through the groin. It is designed to seal off the heart’s left atrial appendage (LAA), a sack-like pouch within one of the organ’s two upper chambers. For patients with AFib over 90 percent of stroke-causing clots that develop in the heart are formed in the LAA. A person’s heart tissue will grow over the permanent implant in time. The device is available in several sizes to best fit a recipient’s body.
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