Procedures
Cardiac catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is a procedure where a thin, flexible tube or catheter, the size of an ink barrel from a pen, is steered through blood vessels to the heart to diagnose or treat certain heart conditions, such as clogged arteries.
Angioplasty
Angioplasty is a procedure that opens blocked coronary arteries caused by artery disease. The clogged or blocked arteries are treated by mounting a small balloon to the end of a flexible tube and inflated into a blocked artery.
Other terms for this procedure are: percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), stenting, and atherectomy. An atherectomy utilizes a small mechanical device to remove coronary (heart vessel) blockages.
A coronary stent is a small mesh tube designed to hold the walls of a coronary wall in place after it has opened.
During a PTCA or PCI, a metal mesh stent the size of a ink barrel from a pen, is placed in the opened artery to keep it open. This allows adequate blood to reach the heart is an otherwise blocked or partially blocked heart artery or coronary. Normal heart muscles require a good blood supply to stay strong and pump correctly.
At Emanate Health, our highly trained interventional cardiologists have the latest technology to help the cardiologists open arteries and prevent heart attacks.
Electrophysiology
Electrophysiologic testing inserts small tubes or wires into the heart to locate where the abnormal or irregular heartbeats are. This test helps your doctor or electrophysiologists to design a treatment that is right for you. This may include medications, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator or ICD, cardiac ablation, or surgery. The test and treatment usually takes place in a specialized cardiac catheterization laboratory.
Pacemaker
A pacemaker is a small device with a small battery and tiny computer that helps control a heartbeat that beats too fast, too slow, or having dangerous beats. The pacemaker is implanted under the skin and adhered to the chest wall. Different types of pacemakers can be utilized based on a patient's condition. Pacemakers only work when they are needed. If your pulse is too slow, the pacemaker sends electrical signals to the heart to correct the beat. As many as three flexible, insulated wires run from the pacemaker within a patient's chest to the different chambers in the heart.
If your heart is working overtime to maintain its own rhythm, it may need a pacemaker. Talk to your doctor.
Structural heart program
The Emanate Health structural heart program helps repair structural problems in your heart. Our skilled cardiology team uses minimally invasive procedures that correct your heart problem without requiring open-heart surgery or temporarily stopping your heart.
MitraClip transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR)
MitraClip, also known as transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR), helps correct a malfunctioning mitral valve that causes an abnormal backflow of blood in your heart. With the MitraClip, a catheter is placed within a vein that runs from the groin to the heart. A small clip is then pushed through the catheter to the center of your mitral valve, which helps reduce the backflow of blood in the heart.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a procedure that treats aortic stenosis. When a person has aortic stenosis, their heart has to work harder to push blood through an abnormally small valve. TAVR alleviates symptoms by replacing a diseased aortic valve with an artificial one. To do this procedure, we place a catheter in the femoral artery and the new valve is delivered to the heart via the catheter. Once the valve is in place, the catheter is removed, and the insertion site is closed.
Watchman
What is the Watchman?
The Emanate Health Heart Care Center offers the Watchman procedure, a left heart appendage device that helps treat patients with atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem.
The Watchman is an alternative to blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke. With atrial fibrillation, the upper chambers of the heart quiver and shake and do not contract as they should. Because blood doesn't pump out of the heart normally, it’s easier for blood cells to stick together and form clots in an area of the heart called the left atrial appendage. When a blood clot escapes from the left atrial appendage and travels to another part of the body, it can cut off the blood supply to the brain and potentially cause a stroke.
How does the Watchman work?
The Watchman closes off the left appendage, reducing the risk of stroke. Taking a blood thinner means daily pills, long-term usage, complications to surgeries and increased bleeding risk grows over time. The Watchman is the alternative, and reduces the risk for stroke. Talk with your doctor to see if the Watchman is right for you.