Heart Interventional
The cardiac interventional capabilities of Saint John’s Health Center are among the finest anywhere. Essential to that success is the hospital’s ability to perform minimally invasive and traditional procedures with outstanding results.
Saint John’s has realized particular success treating patients with severe cardiac artery blockage. In fact, recent mortality data covering the 121 facilities that perform cardiac bypass surgery around the state gave the hospital perfect marks. Only eight hospitals that performed between 25 and 136 bypass procedures alone reported no deaths in 2003, the most recent year for which the data was available. No other hospitals in the Santa Monica area reported a 100% survival rate.
On the minimally-invasive and non-invasive side, special services include electrophysiology and cardiac catheterization. Recently, a Saint John’s physician was among the first in the U.S. to use an endoscopically guided laser catheter to eliminate short-circuiting that was causing a potentially dangerous atrial arrhythmia in a patient. Staff are conducting several leading research studies evaluating the use of ablation, or heat, to eliminate atrial fibrillation, and leading therapy protocols targeting the condition—which is characterized by an erratic heartbeat—also are ongoing.
When more serious surgical intervention is needed, the hospital’s two cardiac catheterization labs often come into play. There, physicians using minimally invasive techniques are able to evaluate the coronary arteries in real time to determine whether coronary artery bypass surgery, stent placement, valve correction (called valvuloplasty), balloon angioplasty or other procedures may be needed. Two additional cath labs will be opening in 2009, bringing the total number of cath labs in use at the hospital to four.
The hospital’s cardiac thoracic surgery component is situated within the main hospital and close to integrated services. One aspect of its all-important recognition that heart disease affects men and women differently is the capability of surgeons to open the chest through an incision under the breastline, eliminating the noticeable scar that typically runs down the chest following open-heart surgery. The procedure has resulted in a high level of satisfaction among female patients, enabling them to retain the sense of beauty that many believe a chest scar deprives them of.
To ensure fast and optimal care for patients with heart attack symptoms, Saint John’s has contracted with Los Angeles County to become a designated facility where patients are transported first. The arrangement allows preparation of a cath lab—both labs are situated just feet from a surgical suite—and notification of a cardiologist before patients arrive at the hospital, enabling cardiac intervention to begin at the earliest possible moment. Subsequent cardiac surgery may be initiated in a dedicated cardiac surgery suite.
Certainly, heart disease is serious business. When symptoms develop, when clinical excellence is imperative, and when time is of the essence, Saint John’s Health Center is the place to be.
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