The Heart & Vascular Center at Chandler Regional Medical Center is now offering a comprehensive range of cardiovascular services including:

• Chest Pain Management
• Cath Lab
• Cardiovascular Operating Room (CVOR)
• Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU)
• Cardiac Rehabilitation
• Non-Invasive Cardiology Testing/Procedures

Chest Pain Management

When the unexpected happens, the only thing that matters is time. Our state-of-the-art Emergency Room includes equipment that will complete a comprehensive care and treatment in emergency situations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The emergency unit treats patients who are experiencing chest pain or one of the warning signs of a heart attack. Staff can quickly determine if the patient is having a heart attack and then provides immediate treatment with physicians and nurses trained in emergency cardiac care and work with the hospital's cardiologists and the Cath Lab Team in case the doctors recommend this clinical pathway.

What is a cardiac catheterization?
It is an x-ray in which a long, narrow, flexible tube called a catheter is put into an artery in your arm or leg. The tube is guided into your heart and a dye is injected by the cardiologist through the tube so the blood vessels of the heart show up on x-rays.

In the Cath Lab we also perform Cardiac Interventions called:

• Angioplasty - An angioplasty (also called a PTCA) is the opening or enlarging of an artery that has become clogged with fatty deposits. It can postpone and in many cases even eliminate the need for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The procedure involves threading a small, flexible tube (catheter) through an artery to the heart. The physician uses a special x-ray screen to see the catheter as it is guided through the vessels into the heart. When it reaches the restricted area, a balloon catheter is positioned and inflated with a fluid that stretches the artery and flattens the fatty deposit against the artery wall. Additional inflations may be repeated until the desired result is obtained.

• Stent - A stent is a tiny round-webbed metal tube that is inserted into a blocked artery (via a catheter). The stent is expanded and this helps keep the artery open. Some patients require stents that are coated with a special medication to further help keep the artery open. More than one stent can or may be used.

What is a pacemaker?
A pacemaker is an electric device that is placed under your skin near your chest to help you have a regular heartbeat. The pulse generator contains the battery (which stores the electrical energy) and the timer that sets the number of electrical impulses the pacemaker sends to the heart. The electrodes (or wires) carry the electrical impulse from the battery to your heart.

What is coronary artery bypass surgery?
The heart gets blood, oxygen and nutrients through coronary (heart) arteries. When the arteries are blocked, the heart does not get what it needs and angina (chest pain) or a heart attack can occur. Angina symptoms are shortness of breath, pressure and tightness, squeezing or aching on the chest, arms, neck or jaw. If medicines do not relieve angina or if the blockage might cause a heart attack, surgery may be needed. Bypass surgery improves blood flow to the coronary arteries. The surgery includes taking out one or more large veins from your chest or legs to replace the blocked parts of the coronary arteries. After the bypass is done, blood can flow normally again.

What is heart valve surgery?
Your heart has four valves that open and close to move blood to the body and prevent blood from backing up in the heart. Damaged heart valves may result from birth defects, rheumatic fever, infection or a poor blood supply to the muscle that controls the valves. The aortic and mitral valves are most often damaged. When these valves do not open or close correctly the heart must work harder and can cause chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness and other symptoms. If symptoms become bad, heart valve surgery may be needed. In some cases the valve can be fixed. If not, the valve can be replaced with an artificial valve or tissue valve.

What is the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU)?
A specialized cardiac unit where all rooms have monitors to continuously evaluate the patient's cardiac rhythm, respirations, arterial and intracardiac pressures and pulse oximetry. Patients are cared for around the clock by a staff of highly qualified, trained and dedicated nurses and support personnel who have achieved an advanced level of certification. This allows for rapid intervention of life threatening conditions in our patients who are critically ill with heart conditions. The CVICU staff is dedicated to maintaining respect for the patient and family's personal dignity in the midst of a fast-paced critical care setting. Staff members balance their high level of technical expertise with care and compassion. In CVICU, close family contact is encouraged.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

What is Cardiac Rehab?
Cardiac rehabilitation is a comprehensive program of medical evaluation, prescribed exercise, cardiac risk factor modification, education and counseling designed to restore certain patients with coronary heart disease to active and productive lives. Cardiac rehabilitation is divided into three phases: Phase I is the immediate in-hospital post-cardiac event phase; Phase II is the outpatient immediate post-hospitalization recuperation phase; Phase III is the long term, maintenance phase.

At our Cardiopulmonary Non-invasive diagnostic services a patient is able to obtain a vast amount of very accurate and detailed information about the heart. This information then helps the Heart & Vascular Center physicians diagnose a patient's conditions and recommend the best possible care. Here, highly trained technologists use some of the most advanced equipment available to diagnose heart disease. Some of the tests performed include:

• Echocardiograms with and without contrast
• Transesophageal Echocardiograms
• Stress Testing
• Tilt Table Testing
• TCPO2 Monitoring
• EEG/Evoke Potentionals
• EKGs
• Pulmonary Function Testing/ABGs

Where Are These Areas Located?

Cath Lab:             Second Floor ASIC Building 
CVOR:                   Second Floor Hospital Building
CVICU:                 Second Floor Hospital Building
Cardiac Rehab:    Phase I: Bedside immediately following cardiac event
Phases II & III:   First floor hospital building

Now we have everything a heart needs!
For additional information, call Marilyn Perez at 480.728.3220.

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