Special to The Island News
Beaufort Memorial Hospital marked the 20th anniversary of the Cochrane Heart Center earlier this month with the opening of its newly renovated cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab) outfitted with the most advanced technology in the nation.
As part of expanding the interventional cardiology program, the updated cath lab will help provide rapid and comprehensive care to hundreds of heart patients every year for life-threatening emergencies and scheduled cardiac procedures.
“The image quality of the advanced digital angiography system will help improve decision making while reducing the radiation exposure and improving patient comfort,” said Dr. Stuart Smalheiser, interventional cardiologist and Medical Director of the Beaufort Memorial Cardiac Catheterization program. “We are very excited to work with Shimadzu as a model for their technology in the U.S. and be on the cutting edge with their advanced cath lab imaging technology.”
Among the critical conditions treated in a cath lab are heart attacks when an artery suddenly becomes blocked, leading to loss of blood flow in the heart muscle. These patients require an urgent, minimally invasive stenting procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) that is performed in the cath lab. The stent serves as a scaffold to open the blocked artery and restores blood flow to preserve heart muscle function; otherwise, the heart may be permanently damaged. The life-saving and usually painless stenting procedure offers a quick recovery and return home, and improves a patient’s quality of life.
In addition to treating emergencies, there are a variety of elective procedures and diagnostic tests performed in the cath lab including angiograms to show how blood is flowing through arteries or veins, angioplasty to open a narrowed or blocked artery and implantation of pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators (ICD).
In total, approximately 650 heart procedures are performed each year in the cath lab at Beaufort Memorial.
“Investing in this upgraded technology is one more way for Beaufort Memorial to continue to provide the highest-quality care available in the Lowcountry,” Beaufort Memorial President and CEO Russell Baxley, MHA, said. “As noted by numerous certifications and awards by accrediting bodies we are committed to providing safe, high quality, patient-centered cardiac care to our community.”
