Speaking Up About Vascular Surgery
Joseph Shelton is no stranger to hospital care. More than ten years ago, he lost his larynx — the "voicebox" — to cancer and had to learn a new way to speak. Joseph had an 80% blockage of the carotid artery, the artery that sends blood to the brain. Just last year, physicians discovered a dangerous blockage in Joseph’s carotid artery. Once again, he would need surgery in his neck area.
According to Dr. Richard Silva of Horizon Surgical Group, a group of four vascular surgeons practicing at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, an 80% blockage is a serious condition which can potentially cause a stroke. What’s more, with Joseph’s history, the more accepted treatment of using surgery to clear the artery of plaque was not recommended.
However, Joseph’s condition could be treated with a minimally invasive procedure. Through a small incision in the groin, Dr. Silva was able to insert a stent into the neck that would expand at the blockage point — opening up the flow of blood to the brain. A cerebral protection device would catch any plaque on the wall that might detach. Stent procedures have very good results and have been performed at the hospital for many years.
How did the treatment go? "It was simple," says Joseph. “I was awake the whole time with no pain. I got in the car and went home. Easy as that."
| Ten Years of Lifesaving Intervention |
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 Coronary artery disease is the number one cause of death and disability in the United States with more than 1.2 million individuals suffering an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) yearly.
For more than a decade, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital has participated in a life-saving research trial. This trial demonstrates that a procedure called Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is superior in opening blocked arteries during a heart attack.
The treatment begins with early identification of a heart attack by emergency medical staff. A team of physicians and staff at the hospital quickly moves heart attack patients from the emergency department into the cardiac catheterization lab. An Interventional Cardiologist uses a long, thin tube — a catheter — with a small balloon on its tip. The balloon is inflated at the blockage site to compress the plaque against the artery wall, and a stent may also be inserted.
Our physicians and staff have established themselves as leaders in Primary PCI care. For example, 49 Primary PCI procedures must be performed per year and 80% of all cases must have an EKG-to-balloon-inflation time or less than 120 minutes to be considered a leader in this area. Data from the Maryland Health Care Commission in 2006, indicates that we treated 92 Primary PCI patients successfully. We also averaged an EKG-to-balloon time of 97 minutes with inflation occurring within the 120 minute mark for 87% of patients.
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