Emergencies that bring people to a hospital often involve sudden, severe heart problems like a heart attack, unstable chest pain, sudden heart failure, or dangerous arrhythmias, where immediate diagnosis and intervention are needed to restore blood flow and save heart muscle. Patients experiencing heart-related emergencies are quickly taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
“When patients arrive with heart problems, heart disease and heart attacks, they come up here to our lab,” says Dr. Kanwar Gill, Interventional Cardiologist at Arnot Health, a Member of Centralus Health.
A catheterization laboratory, or cath lab, is where doctors take care of the heart in real time. From opening blocked arteries to treating irregular heartbeats and even helping in emergencies like heart failure or shock, it’s the place where big heart problems get quick solutions.
In the cath lab, doctors also run tests to see how your heart is working and plan the best treatment.
“We take a look at the coronary arteries; we do invasive measurements when necessary. In addition, we do a host of other procedures on different types of vascular disease, intravenous disease, and all the things that we can care for in cardiovascular health,” says Dr. Brian Shaw, Interventional Cardiologist at Cayuga Health, a Member of Centralus Health.
Through the use of high-resolution imaging, providers can easily identify and diagnose issues with the heart.
“The screens we use to look at the information are state of the art. It’s visually easier to understand what’s going on with the patient,” says Dr. Malcom Brand, Director of Cardiac Services at Cayuga Health, a Member of Centralus Health.
Cath labs can open blocked arteries, fix leaky or narrowed valves, treat irregular heartbeats, and repair structural issues like small holes in the heart or weak spots in a valve. They also provide advanced care during emergencies like sudden heart failure.
“We recently had a patient who came in with chest pain and had a stress test done. It was abnormal. We brought him to the lab to look at the pictures of his coronary arteries, and we found two blockages,” says Dr. Gill.
In the cath lab, doctors use thin, flexible tubes called catheters to check and treat heart problems. It’s much easier on the body than open-heart surgery. Providers put a catheter, a tiny tube, into a blood vessel in your arm or groin. From there, the tube goes up to the heart and shows coronary arteries and/or pulmonary arteries, so providers can look at structural issues.
“You need to have precision with the stenting—where you want the stent to go and where the blockages are,” says Dr. Shaw.
Doctors use an X-ray technology called fluoroscopy to see live, immediate pictures of the catheter moving through blood vessels to the heart, guiding precise actions.
“Either by putting an ultrasound into a blood vessel or doing an angiogram and looking at the arteries on an x-ray, everything we do here to treat the patient relies on the image quality,” says Dr. Shaw. “The equipment we have here is impressive.”
The non-invasive low-dose coronary CT scanner minimizes a patient’s radiation and contrast exposure while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.
“The amount of radiation that is used is significantly less, and that’s safer for the patient,” says Dr. Brand.
These treatments can ease chest pain, improve breathing, boost blood flow, and lower the risk of a heart attack. Once the procedure is done, most patients experience less pain, a shorter hospital stay, and a faster return to daily life.
If you’re experiencing sudden, unexplainable symptoms like nausea; fatigue; dizziness; chest pain that may feel like pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing, or aching; pain or discomfort that spreads to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth or sometimes the upper belly; and/or cold sweats, health experts recommend calling 911.
Whether you need critical care in a crisis or preventative care to improve your heart health, the most qualified specialists are waiting for you at Arnot. Arnot Health’s Heart and Vascular Institute is located at 600 Roe Avenue, Elmira.
Cayuga Heart and Vascular Center has been providing cardiac services for 40 years and has more than a decade of experience in invasive cardiac care. Cayuga Health’s Heart and Vascular Center is located at 201 Dates Drive, Ithaca; 40 Catherwood Road, Ithaca and 220 Steuben Street, Montour Falls.
