Banner Good Samaritan offers several surgical and non-invasive treatments for heart disease. For each treatment there are several different approaches. It is best to speak with your doctor to determine what specific treatments you need.
Catheterization Procedures
A catheterization procedure is a minimally-invasive way to treat some forms of heart disease. Doctors do not surgically open the patient’s chest. They enter the heart through arteries in the legs or arms. Then they use special tools to inject dye, clear blocked arteries, or insert a stent (small stainless steel tube) when needed. The Cavanagh Cardiology Center offers many cardiac catheterization procedures. The following are frequently performed at this hospital:
- Angioplasty (balloon pump)
- Atherectomy (rotational)
- ICD and Pacemaker Implantation
- Peripheral Vascular Intervention
- Septal Defect Closures
- Stent Implantation
- Valvuoplasty
Surgery
Surgical procedures require the patient to stay in the hospital for a few days. A surgeon opens the patient’s chest to repair damage to the heart tissue, valves, arteries or vessels. Some times the patient’s heart is temporarily stopped from beating on its own. In that case a mechanical pump or heart-lung machine keeps the heart functioning while the doctor performs surgery. Surgery can also utilize special robotic technology.
At Banner Good Samaritan, nearly 700 open-heart procedures are performed annually in three designated open-heart surgery rooms featuring the latest technologies. The medical staff performs several complex surgical procedures as well as the most common open-heart procedures such as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and valve repair.
Additional areas of special expertise in open-heart surgery are transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) and Maze surgical procedures. Both TMR (for angina) and Maze (for atrial fibrillation) use lasers to significantly decrease or eliminate the patient's pain.