The Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital – Dallas interventional cardiology program is supported by 6 well-equipped catheterization labs and 2 hybrid labs featuring advanced technology, including digital subtraction, intravascular ultrasound, intracardiac echocardiography and coronary flow wire-equipment that enhances data accuracy and accessibility.
Known throughout the Metroplex as a hospital for advanced treatment of cardiovascular disease, our award-winning program provides patients the timely care needed in critical situations. Access to the advanced generation of interventional devices, including cardiac, carotid, and vascular stents, allows for the personalized care each patient needs.
Cardiovascular Services
Advanced generation of stents
The design and functionality of stents have improved over time and allowed for better options for the patient. Through participation in clinical trials, Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital – Dallas served as a research site for many of the recent to-market stents.
Atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure
ASD is a type of congenital heart defect in which a hole occurs between the heart's upper chambers or a natural opening between the atria fails to close. The hole allows blood to seep from the left atrium to the right atrium. We can repair these openings.
Balloon valve repair
If a heart valve fails to open and close properly, physicians will attempt to fix the valve or, if necessary, replace it. These procedures are generally effective in restoring healthy blood flow.
Cardiac assist device
We offer a variety of assist devices, which may be necessary to support a weakened heart.
Carotid stenting
Stents, slender metal-mesh tubes that fit inside an artery to keep it open and allow blood to flow past blockages, can be used in the carotid arteries. Through this procedure, the team is often able to prevent strokes.
Chronic Total Occlusion
Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital – Dallas is a regional and national referral center for high-risk patients seeking treatment for totally occluded arteries with chronic total occlusion (CTO) stenting. An option to bypass surgery, the hospital is among a handful of medical facilities in Texas offering this service to address coronary obstructions.
A procedure in which a narrowed section of a coronary artery is dilated with a balloon catheter to improve blood flow in a blocked artery. In most cases a stent is placed at the same time. With these techniques, the physicians on the medical staff at Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital – Dallas can often achieve results similar to those of more invasive methods like open heart surgery, while minimizing pain, recovery time and complications.
This refers to the removal of plaque from a heart artery via a specially equipped catheter.
Peripheral angiography and angioplasty
During angiography, physicians inject dye through a catheter that allows them to create x-ray images of blood vessels to identify blockages. This can be done on peripheral arteries in the arms or legs. Angioplasty is sometimes a next step, if narrowing or blockages are apparent.
Peripheral atherectomy
This is the removal of plaque from an artery in the arm or leg using a catheter.
Robotic-assisted coronary angioplasty
Robotics improves the precision of stent and balloon placements and reduces radiation exposure during the procedure. Cardiologists on the medical staffs at both the Dallas and Fort Worth campuses became a part of a small group in the state of Texas to first use robotic-assisted technology to perform coronary angioplasties or place cardiac stents.
Transradial cardiac catheterization
Transradial catheterization is both a safe and effective procedure to diagnose and treat blockages in the heart.
Interventional cardiologists diagnose and treat heart conditions using minimally invasive techniques often involving catheters, which are small, flexible tubes inserted into the body. The catheter is carefully threaded into the heart using an x-ray machine that produces real-time images (fluoroscopy). Once the catheter is in place, contrast material is injected, and images of your heart are taken.
Traditionally, cardiac catheterization is performed using a puncture in the leg, but studies have shown that going through the wrist, using the transradial approach, produces the same results with a shorter hospital stay and with less bleeding or discomfort for the patient. At Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital – Dallas, the transradial approach has been performed since 1996. Medical Director for the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit and Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation, Jeffrey M. Schussler, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FSCCT, FACP, provides an overview for using the wrist approach to heart catheterizations.
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