Author: Dr. Jeffrey A. Klem M.D.
Cardiovascular Specialist
At Texas Emergency Hospital we can now routinely perform right and left heart catheterizations, percutaneous coronary interventions (PTCA/stents), peripheral vascular interventions (PTA/stents), intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) insertions for patients who are hemodynamically unstable, and temporary pacemaker insertions.
We have the newest state of the art drug eluting stent delivery system EluNir Ridaforolimus eluting coronary stent system from Cordis as well as a full line up of PTCA ballons/stents and wires.
We also perform pericardiocentesis, implantable loop recorders (ILR) with REVEAL-LINQ (Medtronic), CONFIRM (St Jude Medical) and Biomonitor (Biotronik) systems for arrhythmia detection. We also perform implantable pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) as well as biventricular ICD’s.
Our Staff
We have 1 full-time and 3 part-time RN’s and 1 full-time and 3 part-time radiologic technologists. Our interventional technologists scrub all cases, they are responsible for the power injector set-up, panning the table, controlling the x-r ay equipment and assisting the physicians with coronary interventions as well as pacemaker/ICD implants. Our RN’s circulate, assess and monitor all cases utilizing the MAC LAB. The are also responsible for administering all the medications for sedation and pain control and ensuring that our patients remain comfortable throughout the procedure. All of our technologists and RN’s are BLS and ACLS certified.
We also have 2 full-time Pre-Op/PACU nurses that receive the patients both before and after the procedures.
Outpatients are prepped and recovered in the cath lab holding area/PACU. Inpatients briefly come to the holding area for a check-in and assessment by an RN. Post-procedure, inpatients stay 30-120 minutes in our PACU, depending on the level of care needed. Outpatients are recovered and discharged home the same day if stable.
Unstable patients or patients with further needs are admitted to the hospital telemetry unit for further monitoring.
CATH LAB Equipment GE INNOVA 3100 IQ
Our new state of the art cath lab is equipped with a GE Innova 3100 IQ cardiovascular flat panel imaging system. It has a versatile detector for combined neuro, angio, vascular and coronary interventions on a single platform.It has a 30×30 cm detector for optimal resolution and image flexibility.It also has AutoEX and DRM to optimize image quality while reducing radiation dose to the patient. It has StentViz software to enable better stent visualization and InnovaChase and InnovaBreeze technology for lower extremity vascular studies.
Vascular Closure Devices
We routinely use vascular closure devices post percutaneous interventions utilizing a variety of devices including the MYNX Vascular Closure Device (Cardinal Health), and ANGIO-SEAL VCD (Terumo), to reduce bed rest time post procedure to improve patient comfort. If a closure device is not feasible the patient returns to the PACU and the femoral sheaths are pulled by either a technologist or an RN trained to pull arterial and venous sheaths.