Interventional Cardiology
If you or someone around you is experiencing signs of a heart attack, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, or discomfort in the arms, neck, jaw or back, call 911 immediately. Do not wait or try to drive yourself to the hospital. Every second counts, and emergency responders can begin life-saving treatment on the way to the hospital.
If you have heart disease, the expert interventional cardiology team at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute can improve your symptoms or even save your life.
Our highly experienced providers detect and correct various issues in the heart and blood vessels using catheter-based treatment, rather than open-heart surgery. Thanks to their dedication and expertise, Kentucky residents receive the right care at the right time, close to home.
Using cardiac catheterization, interventional cardiologists can diagnose and treat your condition, often in a single procedure. Scheduled catheterization procedures occur in an outpatient setting, meaning you can return home the same day, but they can also be performed immediately in an emergency.
Here’s what happens during the procedure:
- You receive anesthesia to relax and stay calm.
- Your provider places a thin, flexible tube (catheter) into a blood vessel through a tiny incision.
- The specialist uses video guidance to lead the catheter to your heart or troublesome peripheral arteries or coronary arteries.
- Once at the area of concern, your provider can diagnose disease and, if appropriate, treat it.
Healthcare professionals from different disciplines are all involved in providing high-quality interventional cardiology care to patients. Members of your team may include:
- Interventional cardiologists
- Nurse practitioners
- Patient navigators
- Physician assistants
- Radiology technicians
- Registered nurses
- Social workers
On occasion, open-heart surgery may become necessary. We collaborate closely with the team of cardiac surgeons at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute if this is the case.
Conditions we treat
The interventional cardiology team at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute provides emergency diagnosis and treatment of the following conditions:
- Adult congenital heart disease
- Cardiac arrest
- Endocarditis
- Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), a heart attack caused by a partially blocked artery
- Pulmonary embolism
- ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a heart attack caused by a completely blocked coronary artery
- Valvular heart disease
Our program can also assist you if you’re experiencing issues such as unexplained fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain and arrhythmia. These may be signs of the following conditions:
- Cardiomyopathy/congestive heart failure
- Coronary artery spasm
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Peripheral arterial disease
- Stable ischemic heart disease
To diagnose coronary artery disease and other heart issues, interventionalists use the following tests:
- Coronary angiography: Your provider injects special dye into your heart through a catheter. This dye spreads through the heart and blood vessels. X-ray pictures then highlight blocked arteries causing your symptoms.
- Left heart catheterization: Your provider guides a catheter to the left side of your heart. There, they may get a blood sample, photograph your heart, or measure blood flow or pressure.
- Provocative testing: The interventionalist injects a small amount of medication into your heart. When your heart responds to the medicine, your team watches in real-time, allowing them to identify the cause of your heart issue.
- Right heart catheterization: Also called pulmonary artery catheterization, this procedure uses catheter-based technology to monitor heart function, blood flow and pressure. For the procedure, the catheter is placed in the right side of your heart and inside the arteries that go to your lungs.
Why choose the interventional cardiology program at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute?
Located inside the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital, our interventional cardiology program is made up of a team of renowned interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. In fact, they’re one of the reasons UK Chandler Hospital is the top-ranked hospital in Kentucky, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Our highly skilled providers also offer subspecialty expertise, including for adults born with congenital heart defects.
Thanks to our robust team, we provide the full suite of interventional cardiology treatments. Common procedures include:
- Angioplasty: Your provider places a tiny balloon inside an artery clogged with fat, cholesterol and other substances. When inflated, the balloon opens the artery, restoring blood flow.
- Stent placement: Your provider places a wire mesh tube called a stent in a clogged artery. This serves as a scaffolding device, holding the artery open and increasing blood flow. It is often placed after an angioplasty opens a clogged artery.
- Thrombectomy: This is a catheter-based way to remove a blood clot in the brain, heart, lungs or elsewhere.
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR): A new heart valve gets placed over a damaged or diseased valve. Once in place, the new valve allows the right amount of blood to flow through the heart’s chambers.
Along with typical treatments, the providers at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute also participate in clinical research and provide leading-edge procedures not offered by many interventional cardiology programs. Two of these include:
- Vegetation debulking for endocarditis: Medication helps get rid of infection in the heart. To reduce the amount of infection to treat, an interventional cardiologist removes part of the infection through a catheter. The UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute was one of the first in Kentucky to offer debulking.
- Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO): A specially placed pump momentarily serves as the heart and lungs. With this form of life support, damaged organs have time to heal from injury or disease. It can also serve as a bridge as a patient waits for a heart transplant or a ventricular assist device.
CONNECT WITH US ON
SOCIAL MEDIA
