DULUTH, MN, Dec 03 (MARKET WIRE) --
St. Mary's Duluth Clinic Heart Center in Duluth, MN, plans to broadcast a
percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also called a coronary angioplasty,
live
onwww.OR-Live.com. The webcast is slated for Tuesday, December 18, 2007, at
6:30 p.m. The public will be able to watch doctors use a minimally
invasiveprocedure to relieve a blocked artery in the heart.
A member of the interventional cardiology team at the Heart Center will
perform the live procedure. At the same time, two of their colleagues,
interventional cardiologists Michael Lucca, MD, and Kathleen Braddy, MD,
FACC, will help to explain the surgery and answer questions as they are e-mailed
by viewers.
The interventional cardiology team at St. Mary's Duluth Clinic Heart
Centerincludes Lisa Abrahams, MD, Kathleen Braddy, MD, FACC, Albert Deibele, MD,
Wilson Ginete, MD, Nancy Hassinger, MD and Michael Lucca, MD.
Dr. Albert Deibele says he hopes the live webcast will help to educate
patients
about a heart procedure that brings many people to the hospital. "It's one of
the
most common surgical procedures in the United States, with one million people
in the U.S. having this every year," he explains.
At St. Mary's cardiac catheterization lab, specially trained cardiologists
perform about 1,600 PCIs every year. Dr. Deibele says higher volumes like
this lead to better outcomes for patients. "We provide excellent, consistent
cardiac care," he notes. "When you come to the Heart Center, we can replicate
this on a daily basis for every patient."
The St. Mary's Duluth Clinic Heart Center has received national
recognitionfor providing high quality cardiac care. Solucient, an independent
data-tracking
company, has named it a Top 100 Heart Hospital eight times. Dr. Deibele says
this webcast will help to illustrate that patients at the Heart Center
receive the same level of care as if they were treated in a much larger
metropolitan area.
The percutaneous coronary intervention will be the fifth live surgical
webcast to
be broadcast from St. Mary's Medical Center -- but it's the first live look
inside the hospital's cardiac cath lab. During previous webcasts, patients have
had the opportunity to watch a minimally invasive abdominal aortic aneurysm
repair, a pediatric osteotomy, minimally invasive colon surgery and
knee-replacement surgery at St. Mary's. Archives of those programs are still
available on this website.
PCI refers to a procedure where a cardiologist threads a thin, flexible tube
called a catheter into an artery in the patient's groin. The physician
gently guides the catheter through the blood vessels to the heart. A special
fluid is injected through the catheter. Using high-tech x-ray photography, a
physician can spot a blockage as the heart pumps the dye through the arteries.
Dr. Deibele says there can be several causes for a blocked or narrowed
heart artery, including cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and age. "Cholesterol,
fibroustissue and calcium all combine to form the blockage," he explains. At the
Heart Center, Dr. Deibele uses the latest technology in three-dimensional
imaging to get a very clear look at the problem vessel.
In many cases, the cardiologist needs to insert a small balloon through
thecatheter to the point of the blockage, where it's inflated to widen the
vessel. Sometimes a stainless steel mesh tube called a stent is inserted
toprop open the artery. This stent can also be coated with a medication that
prevents scar tissue from forming.
Dr. Deibele says recovery is often quick for this type of minimally invasive
procedure. The patient can typically be up and walking 12 to 24 hours after
the procedure, and hospital stays generally last a day or two.
Visit: http://www.or-live.com/duluthclinic/2039/index.cfm?cmpid=marketwire
to learn more and view a program preview. VNR:
http://www.or-live.com/rams/she-2039-mkw-q.ram
Video-Link Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=640076
Contact:
Alex Fraser
Director of Marketing
OR-Live, Inc.
860-953-2900 x 214
Email Contact
Copyright 2007, Market Wire, All rights reserved.
-0-
