Cardiac Treatments and Procedures

Angioplasty is a procedure that opens narrow or blocked blood vessels by placing stents in the affected artery to prevent it from closing again. Physicians use angiography to determine where the stent(s) should be placed.

Cardiac surgeons at Wise Health System provide patients with advanced treatments and procedures in a manner that is as comfortable as possible for them and their families.

Cardioversion is a procedure that can restore a fast or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) to a normal rhythm.

The procedure is accomplished through an outpatient electrical procedure by giving the patient low-energy shocks to get the heart into a normal rhythm. This procedure is different from defibrillation. Defibrillation gives high-energy shocks, in contrast to cardioversion low energy shocks, to restore the heart to a normal rhythm in severe, life threatening situations. The other option is a medicinal cardioversion procedure.

The carotid artery is the artery that includes arteries of the head and neck that supply oxygen-rich blood to the brain. A carotid angiogram allows physicians to evaluate the possibility of blockage, any narrow arteries, plaque build up, the extent of blockage or the blood flow to a tumor. This procedure involves the insertion of a catheter that will release a dye in the neck area and taking a series of x-ray pictures to assess any blockage, narrow veins, abnormal vessels or tumors.

Femoral /popliteal bypass takes vein grafts, which may be taken from the legs, and places an end above and below the blockage, rerouting blood flow through the new graft. In some cases, a prosthetic vein graft can be used in place of a vein graft.

IABP is a catheter-based procedure helps your heart pump more blood. An IABP allows blood to flow more easily into your coronary arteries. It also helps your heart pump more blood with each contraction. This is primarily used to treat Cardiogenic Shock.

Impella, the world’s smallest heart pump, is a support system of percutaneous catheter-based technology offering hemodynamic support to the heart. Impella heart pumps allow the heart to rest and recover by temporarily assisting the pumping function of the heart to efficiently deliver blood and oxygen to the entire body.

LifeVest is a wearable defibrillator worn by patients at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), providing protection during their changing condition and while permanent SCA risk has not been established.

LifeVest is used by patients for a wide range of conditions or situations, including following a heart attack, before or after bypass surgery or stent placement, as well as for those with cardiomyopathy or congestive heart failure that places them at particular risk.

Therapeutic Hypothermia may be used after resuscitation from cardiac arrest to improve the chances of patient survival and recovery. During this procedure, patients are cooled to 36 degrees Celsius post-resuscitation from a cardiac arrest. This process slows the brain’s metabolism and protects it against damage from the lack of blood flow and oxygen.

Thoracentesis is a procedure used to remove excess fluid in the pleural space (the space between the lungs and chest wall) and to help determine the cause of pleural effusion. Pleural effusion is the build up of extra fluid that pushes against the lung, causing collapse.

Thoracotomy is a surgical procedure that involves opening the chest wall to access the lungs, throat, aorta, heart and/or diaphragm.

Transvenous cardiac pacing, also called endocardial pacing, is a potentially life-saving intervention used primarily to correct profound bradycardia. It can be used to treat symptomatic bradycardias that do not respond to transcutaneous pacing or to drug therapy. Transvenous pacing is achieved by threading a pacing electrode through a vein into the right atrium, right ventricle, or both.