Interventional Cardiology
Interventional cardiology is a type of heart care that uses thin, flexible tubes called catheters to diagnose and treat conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. These tubes are inserted through a blood vessel, usually in the wrist or groin, allowing doctors to treat certain heart problems without the need for open-heart surgery.
This minimally invasive approach can help patients recover faster and can be lifesaving in emergencies such as a heart attack.
What Does an Interventional Cardiologist Do?
Interventional cardiologists diagnose and treat a wide range of heart and blood vessel conditions. They use advanced tools and imaging technology to find problems and perform procedures that improve blood flow, repair heart defects, and treat damaged heart valves.
Many procedures are performed using small catheters, which means less pain, smaller incisions, and shorter recovery times for patients.
Conditions We Treat
Our interventional cardiologists care for patients with conditions such as:
- Aneurysms
- Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
- Aortic valve stenosis
- Atrial septal defects (holes in the heart)
- Carotid artery disease
- Chronic vein disease
- Coronary artery disease
- Coronary artery fistula
- Heart attack
- Heart valve disease
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Blood clots and related conditions
Interventional Cardiology Procedures
Our team offers a variety of advanced procedures, including:
- Cardiac catheterization
- Angiograms
- Angioplasty
- Coronary atherectomy
- Fractional flow reserve (FFR)
- Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)
- Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
- Stent placement
- Heart valve repair and replacement
- Left atrial appendage closure
- Atrial septal defect closure
- Patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure
- Thrombolysis (blood clot treatment)
Advanced Heart Care
Some interventional cardiologists have additional training to treat complex structural heart conditions and perform complex high-risk procedures for patients with serious heart disease.
Interventional cardiology procedures are performed in our cardiac catheterization labs in Boise and Nampa, providing patients with advanced heart care close to home.
Awards and Accreditations
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center and Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa have received the American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain ̶ MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2023. Saint Alphonsus is one of only 262 hospitals nationwide to receive the honor. The award recognizes Saint Alphonsus’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that Saint Alphonsus has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
The American College of Cardiology has recognized the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center for its demonstrated expertise in treating patients with chest pain. The Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center is the only one in the state of Idaho to be awarded Chest Pain Center Accreditation with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Resuscitation. Certification is based on rigorous onsite evaluation of the staff's ability to assess, diagnose and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack.
The Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise is the first hospital in Idaho to be designated by the State of Idaho’s Time Sensitive Emergency Statewide Council (TSE) as a level I+ STEMI Center. The Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center meets all the criteria set by the State of Idaho to care for the most critical heart attack patients who experience cardiogenic shock and heart failure.