Interventional Cardiology

Interventional cardiologists use non-surgical techniques — usually by running a catheter through the arteries into and around the heart — to repair the blockages that cut off the flow of blood in and out of the heart.

Our cardiologists perform angioplasties, in which a balloon attached to the catheter clears the arteries, and are also experienced in the use of stents. In addition to traditional stents, WVU uses drug-eluting stents, which deliver medication directly to the site of the blockage.

At the Heart Institute, we perform between 1,500 to 1,800 angioplasties and stent placements annually.

For a heart attack patient, “door to balloon” is the time from arrival at the hospital until the start of balloon angioplasty. The national goal for “door to balloon” is 90 minutes. The WVU Heart Institute far exceeds that goal.

We have the doctors, technology, and facilities, including our cardiac labs, to make a rapid diagnosis and take quick, effective action 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We’ve refined our coordination and teamwork to a science.

Treatments/procedures performed at the WVU Heart Institute include:

Ablation
Angioplasty
Atherectomy
Balloon valvuloplasty
Cardiac catheterization
Cardiac resynchronization therapy
Clot extraction
Cutting catheter or "Pac-Man" surgery for patients with chronic total occlusions (CTOs)
Diagnostic catheterization for evaluation of coronary artery and valvular heart disease (Intravascular ultrasound and flow wire available)
Interpretation of both invasive and non-invasive cardiac testing
Noninvasive cardiac evaluation with stress/nuclear and stress/echocardiogram
Pacemaker
Preoperative cardiac evaluation prior to non-cardiac surgery
Renal and peripheral artery stenting
Stenting

Radial Artery Access Cardiac Catheterization
WVU Heart Institute interventional cardiologists offer radial artery access, a cardiac catheterization technique that uses arteries in the wrist to reach the heart.

Radial artery wrist access allows for the same tests and procedures as other catheterization methods for diagnosing and treating coronary artery disease, with increased benefit over traditional femoral artery (groin) access.

The advantages of using the radial artery as an access point include:

decreased risk of complications from bleeding
faster recovery time
greater comfort for patients
faster mobility
shorter hospital stays

Women, older, or obese patients may especially benefit from radial artery access.

WVU Health Report: Wrist Access Heart Caths