Source: Rhino Times Greensboro

Moses Cone Heart & Vascular Center

February 15, 2011

World-Class Heart Care Close to Home

Think you need to look beyond Greensboro for expert cardiac care? Think again.

Moses Cone Heart and Vascular Center is one of the busiest cardiac care facilities in the state – and also one of the most advanced.

Based at The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, the Heart and Vascular Center is staffed by 50 cardiologists and surgeons who have trained at some of the nation’s finest teaching institutions – from the Mayo Clinic to Harvard Medical School. They perform more than 8,000 procedures each year and are pioneering new treatment options and surgical techniques available only at Centers of Excellence.

Here are some recent treatment breakthroughs you’ll find at the Moses Cone Heart and Vascular Center.



Minimally Invasive Option for Valve Surgery

During the drive home from a Florida vacation, 49-year-old John Renner realized something was terribly wrong. Trying to sing along with the car radio was leaving him out of breath.

The culprit proved to be a leaking mitral valve, which typically leads to open-heart surgery. Fortunately for Renner, Moses Cone Health System is among a small group of health care institutions offering a minimally invasive alternative.

“Advances in technology allow us to repair or replace heart valves through small incisions between the ribs,” said Clarence Owen, MD, with Triad Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons. “Patients have a smaller scar, less pain and bleeding, a shorter hospital stay and a much shorter recovery period.”

Renner experienced a quick recovery, and so did patient Lynn Hooper.

“I’m an active person and walk four or five miles most days,” Hooper said. “I had my operation on Thursday, and on Monday I was already back to my regular walk.”

Each year, the Moses Cone Health System performs more than 150 valve repair and replacement surgeries, more than many other major medical centers, said Charles Wilson, MD, medical director of the Moses Cone Heart and Vascular Center. “Minimally invasive valve surgery delivers a huge benefit to our patients and reinforces our position as one of the most advanced heart centers in the state.”

Radial Catheterization: Taking a New Road to the Heart

The Moses Cone Health System is already a state leader in providing prompt, life-saving treatment to open blocked arteries – averaging about 55 minutes in “door to balloon time,” twice as fast as national guidelines recommend. That commitment to prompt diagnosis and treatment continues as the Health System joins some of the nation’s leading medical centers in offering a new approach to heart catheterization.

During a traditional catheterization, a tube is inserted through a small incision in the groin. With the new approach, cardiologists make a small puncture on the wrist and guide the catheter to the heart through the radial artery in the arm.

“It’s much more patient-friendly,” said Jonathan Berry, MD, Chief of the Cardiovascular section at the Moses Cone Health System, and a cardiologist with Southeastern Heart and Vascular Center. “Studies show fewer complications and less bleeding, as well as shorter hospital stays. Most patients will be able to go home the day of their procedure.”



Cutting-Edge Treatment for Irregular Heart Rhythms

John Albertson lives a fast-paced life – from coaching high school football to running his own environmental services company. But abnormal heart rhythms from atrial fibrillation were causing the 49-year-old to have a racing heartbeat and periodic blackouts.

Today, Albertson is back on his feet, thanks to “catheter ablation,” a minimally invasive treatment pioneered locally by James D. Allred, MD, a cardiologist with LeBauer HeartCare.

“Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common heart rhythm disorders and is especially prevalent here in the Southeast,” Allred said.

With catheter ablation, cardiologists use advanced imaging technology to map the patient’s heart and to guide the catheter from a vein in the groin to the abnormal tissue in the heart. They then destroy the abnormal tissue with a radiofrequency electrical current.

“Two days after the surgery, I was out walking on the beach,” Albertson said. “I’m symptom-free, off all medications and feel better than I have in 15 years.”



A National Leader in Open-Heart Surgery

For those who may need open-heart surgery, the Moses Cone Health System performs more heart-artery bypasses – and does a better job – than most hospitals nationwide.

In fact, the Health System is in the top 10 percent nationwide for the number of bypass surgeries it performs, according to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The same leading agency has given the Health System its highest possible quality rating – three stars. Only 12 percent of hospitals in the United States have earned this same ranking.

“This puts us in an elite group of heart centers nationwide,” said Vicki Block, vice president of Moses Cone Heart and Vascular Center. “Our staff and surgeons meet routinely and assess the data to maintain this high quality.”