Informed Magazine- Fall 2009.pdf - Parma Community General ...

State-of-the-art Vascular Suite enhances heart
Sharper imaging, lower radiation capabilities create a safe and more comf
State-of-the-art treatment and
excellent, personalized care are
artfully blended in the new vascular
suite added to the heart and vascular
services at Parma Hospital.
“This vascular lab represents
state-of-the-art care in the community
setting,” says James Persky, MD, director
of the Division of Vascular Surgery
at Parma Hospital. “This vascular lab
allows us to be on the cutting edge of
new modalities of care and eliminates
the need to travel beyond the friendly
confines of Parma Community General
Hospital.”
The vascular suite was constructed
adjacent to the Cardiac Catheterization
Lab in the Heart Center. Vascular
surgeons can perform a variety of
peripheral vascular procedures in the
suite for diagnostic and treatment
purposes, including:
• arterial intervention of the upper and
lower extremities
• lower leg interventional procedures,
including stenting,
• angioplasty
• renal interventions
• endografts for aortic aneurysms
The ceiling mounted devices and
electronically controlled technologies
enhance the capabilities of the surgical
and radiology technical teams, says
Vincent Bertin, MD, medical director of
the Cardiovascular Lab.
“The new suite utilizes technologies
that integrate diagnosis and treatment
and allows the peripheral vascular
specialist to enhance patient care,” says
Dr. Bertin. “This in turn will create fewer
surgeries, safer procedures, shorter
hospital stays, faster recoveries and
better outcomes for vascular patients.”
Vascular treatment protocols have
come a long way, says Dr. Persky.
“We used to do bypasses and openend
arterectomies,” says Dr. Persky.
Vascular surgeron Jeffrey Boyko, DO and radiologist
Paul Klatte, MD now have a dedicated
suite to perform minimally invasive vascular and
interventional procedures that provides patients
with the safest environment thanks to high quality
imaging at a low radiation dosage.
“Those have slowly and successfully
been replaced. This lab allows us to
continue that performance benchmark.
As we’ve evolved from bypass to
angioplasties, we can still give that
cutting-edge, minimally invasive
vascular care.”
In addition to handling vascular
cases, the lab will be available
for cardiac catheterizations and
interventions. Even Code STEMIs,
garnering regional recognition for
Parma Hospital with response times
for heart attack patients well below the
national average, could be handled in
this suite.
Digital equipment that allows
physicians to view images quickly
and more clearly gives the vascular
surgeon a distinct edge over previous
capabilities. Images can be reviewed
instantaneously through the hospital’s
Picture Archival Communication System
(PACS).
“The imaging intensifier is much
more powerful than what we had
before,” says Dr. Bertin. “The improved
image quality improves our technical
performance of procedures.”
Dr. Bertin noted that this
interventional suite completes Parma
Hospital’s vascular offerings for
patients.
“We already offer noninvasive
vascular testing,” says Dr. Bertin. “And
now we have the capability to offer all
interventional procedures.”
The sharper imaging will allow
physicians to move some procedures
from the operating room to the vascular
suite. As a sterile room set up like a
surgical suite, with a scrub room and
anesthesia available, the vascular suite
opens more options for physicians and
will make scheduling easier for patients.
Interventional radiologists like
Robert Haller, MD, will now have a
dedicated room in which to perform
minimally invasive vascular and
interventional procedures, including
diagnostic procedures like angiograms,
radiofrequency ablation and line
insertions for intravenous devices.
Haller noted that the suite improves
Radiology’s capabilities.
Linda Nicklas, administrative
director of Radiology, says the
Shimadzu equipment was selected for
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