Regional Heart Institute

St. Mary’s is the Tri-State’s leader in cardiac care with more firsts than any other hospital in the region. Our experienced and dedicated physicians and staff have a reputation for excellence in caring for patients. St. Mary's Regional Heart Institute has been named a Center of Excellence by Mountain Health Network.

St. Mary’s was recognized as part of The Joint Commission’s 2015 annual report for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and immunization.

Heart problems, especially those requiring surgery, can be very stressful for patients. St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute provides a truly comprehensive program with treatment and education from initial diagnosis through surgery, rehabilitation and recovery.

Below is a listing of the services and treatments available at St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute. For more information, call 304.526.6029.

Diagnostic Services

• Nuclear stress test
• Exercise stress test
• EKG
• Holter and event monitoring
• Echocardiography, including state-of-the-art 3D
• Stress echocardiography
• Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), including state-of-the-art 3D
• Tilt table testing
• Carotid duplex
• Transcranial dopplers (TCD)
• Venous reflux testing pre-EVLT (endovenous laser treatment)
• Peripheral arterial scans—upper and lower extremities
• Arterial pressure testing
• Saphenous/cephalic vein mapping
• Temporal artery scans
• Venous insufficiency studies
• Laser doppler/skin perfusion
• Cardiac catheterization
• Electrophysiology studies
• Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)
• IVUS/ICE

Treatments

Interventional Cardiology

• Cardiac catheterizations
• Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)
• Fractional flow reserve (FFR)
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
• Interventional procedures for coronary artery disease:
  • Angioplasty
  • Atherectomy
  • Rotoblator
  • Stenting
• Chronic total occlusions
• Interventional procedures for structural heart disease:
  • PFO and ASD closure
  • Valvuloplasty
  • Septal ablation
  • Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI or TAVR)
• Interventional procedures for peripheral arterial disease
  • Angioplasty
  • Atherectomy
  • Stenting
  • Laser therapy
• Endografts for aortic aneurysms
• Minimally invasive endovenous laser treatment for varicose veins (ELVT)

Cardiac Rhythm Management

• Cardioversion
• Electrophysiology studies
• Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE)
• Ablation therapies for atrial and ventricular arrythmias
• Epicardial ablation
• Pacemakers
• Biventricular pacemakers
• AICD
• Biventricular AICD
• Lead extraction
• Implantable loop recorders

Cardiac Surgery

• Conventional bypass surgery
• Off-pump beating heart surgery
• Valve repair and replacement
• Aneurysmal disease of heart and thoracic aorta, endovascular and open
• Aortic root disease
• Surgical ventricular restoration
• Surgical treatment of arrhythmia
• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery bypass, removal myxoma and aortic valve replacement
• Re-do cardiac surgery
• Adult onset congenital heart disease surgery
• Robot-assisted internal mammary artery (IMA) for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery
• Laser TMR (transmycardial revascularization)

Vascular Surgery

• Endovascular repair and open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms
• Upper and lower extremity vascular diseases
• Carotid endarterectomy
• Mesenteric revascularization
• Minimally invasive varicose vein treatment, including laser therapy
• Dialysis access

Thoracic Surgery

• Thoracic oncology
• Minimally invasive thoracic surgery
• Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), including lobectomy and sympathectomy
• Mediastinoscopy
• Chest wall diseases
• Lung volume reduction surgery
• Minimally invasive removal of lung tumors
• Robotic surgery, including lobectomy and hiatal hernia repair
• Robot-assisted thymectomy
• Esophagectomy
• Esophageal stent
• Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and Super D Navigation
• Hyperhidrosis

Rehabilitation & Education

Cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation services are designed to help patients recover quickly and improve their overall physical and mental functioning after having a heart procedure. Core components of the program include patient assessment, cardiovascular exercise, nutritional counseling, tobacco cessation, stress management and risk factor modification. Our staff works with you, combining elements of education, counseling, and exercise to develop an individualized therapeutic plan of care.

The Cardiac Rehabilitation program consists of one-hour sessions that meet three days per week for about 12 weeks, with the goal of helping you to improve your heart function, maintain a healthy body weight, manage hypertension, improve your ability to live with stress, increase your family's ability to cope with heart disease and enhance social adjustments and functioning. 

Program fees are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance companies. A referral from your physician is required. Acceptable diagnoses for participation in our program include:

• Myocardial Infarction (heart attack)
• Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
• Stable Angina
• Heart Valve Repair/Replacement
• Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (angioplasty/stent placement)
• Heart Transplant
• Heart Failure 

 For more information, call 304.526.1253.

Peripheral Artery Disease Exercise Program

St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute, a Mountain Health Network Center of Excellence, is beginning a supervised exercise program for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

 PAD, commonly described as clogged arteries in the legs, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, amputation and death. Approximately 8 to 12 million adults in the United States are affected by PAD.

     The most common symptoms include:

• Leg muscle pain that occurs with walking and is relieved with rest
• Foot or toe pain at rest that may disturb sleep
• Skin ulcers or wounds that won’t heal or are slow to heal
• Shiny skin with loss of hair on feet and toes

Participants in the PAD exercise program will alternate between periods of exercise and rest on a treadmill with a goal of 30 minutes of exercise. Each patient will be monitored by experienced nurses, exercise physiologists, a registered dietitian and a counselor to provide supervised exercise training and lifestyle modification education. The program, which is offered through St. Mary’s Cardiac Rehabilitation, is covered by most insurance providers.

Supervised exercise training can reduce PAD symptoms, increase functional capacity and walking distance, reduce risk factors and prevent progression of the disease. To participate, a patient must have a face-to-face consultation with their physician resulting in a referral.

For more information about the St. Mary’s PAD program, call (304) 526-1253.

Heart valve clinic

The Heart Valve Clinic at St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute streamlines the treatment process by combining the expertise of our cardiologists and cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons to offer patients specialized care. For more information, call 304.526.6029.

Joslin Diabetes Center education affiliate

St. Mary’s helps patients manage diabetes through education in partnership with the world-renowned Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University in Boston. Diabetes educators provide information on various aspects of diabetes management, including blood sugar monitoring, carbohydrate counting, medication, exercise, heart-healthy eating and goal setting. For more information, call 304.526.8363.

Personal nutrition coaching

Personal nutrition coaching is a one-on-one counseling service with a registered dietitian that is designed to help participants make healthy lifestyle and nutrition choices for better health or to address specific concerns, such as weight management and heart health. For more information, call 304.526.1253.

Heart failure management program

This program is designed to help heart failure patients achieve their optimal level of health through treatment, education and rehabilitation. For more information, call 304.526.8339.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) supervised exercise program

PAD, commonly described as clogged arteries in the legs, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, amputation and death. Approximately 8 to 12 million adults in the United States are affected by PAD. Participants in the PAD exercise program will alternate between periods of exercise and rest on a treadmill with a goal of 30 minutes of exercise. Each patient will be monitored by experienced nurses, exercise physiologists, a registered dietitian and a counselor to provide supervised exercise training and lifestyle modification education. The program, which is offered through St. Mary’s Cardiac Rehabilitation, is covered by most insurance providers. Supervised exercise training can reduce PAD symptoms, increase functional capacity and walking distance, reduce risk factors and prevent progression of the disease. For more information, call (304) 526-1253.