Angioplasty and stenting are minimally invasive procedures performed to open clogged arteries and improve blood flow. Angioplasty involves inserting a balloon-tipped catheter in the blocked area and expanding it to stretch the artery walls, allowing blood to flow. A stent, or small wire-mesh tube, may be permanently placed in the newly opened artery to help it remain open. Drug-eluting stents may be used to further reduce restenosis.
Interventional Services
CHI Memorial’s Guerry Heart and Vascular Center has the expertise and superior technology to provide advanced interventional procedures for accurate diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Often doctors can restore blood flow to threatened heart tissues without surgery. CHI Memorial has five cardiac catheterization laboratories and two electrophysiology laboratories for specialized cardiac testing and interventional procedures.
These studies are used to evaluate abnormal or irregular heart rhythms. Your cardiologist may request an EP study if you have dizziness, fainting, heart fluttering sensations or lightheadedness. Catheters are advanced through the vessels to the heart to locate the tissue that is causing the irregular rhythm and remove it.
CHI Memorial was the first hospital in the Chattanooga area to offer the world’s smallest pacemaker to treat patients with bradycardia-a slow heart rhythm. The Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) is a revolutionary device that offers patients the most advanced pacing technology–at one-tenth the size of a traditional pacemaker. Comparable in size to a large vitamin, Micra TPS doesn’t require pacing leads or a surgical “pocket” for implantation.
MitraClip® is a breakthrough technology for people who suffer from mitral valve regurgitation but are too high risk for surgical valve repair or replacement. MitraClip® therapy is the world’s first transcatheter mitral valve repair–meaning no surgical incisions are needed to deliver this lifesaving therapy.
A pacemaker is a small device that is used to treat heart rhythms that are too slow, too fast or irregular. These arrhythmias can cause dizziness, fatigue or fainting. Pacemakers are inserted under the skin of your chest. Wires connected to the heart send electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive procedure that enables a collapsible aortic heart valve to be placed inside the heart. During the procedure, TAVR device is crimped down and placed into the body via a catheter that is inserted in the upper thigh or groin. Once it’s delivered to the site of the patient’s diseased valve, the device is expanded with a balloon and begins to work immediately.
WATCHMAN is permanent implant that offers an alternative to the lifelong use of blood thinners. WATCHMAN is implanted into your heart in a one-time procedure. The procedure is done under general anesthesia and takes about an hour. Patients commonly stay in the hospital overnight and leave the next day.
Is your heart as healthy as you think?