Clinical Teams --> State of the Art Facilities --> Cath Labs

The new cardiac cath lab at CMMC provides our patients with the most accurate and advanced imaging available in the world today. A new "flat panel" X-ray system enables the physician to visualize and define the small coronary arteries with an accuracy not previously possible, especially in large patients. Furthermore the efficiency of the system allows this imaging to be acquired with the lowest possible X-ray exposure for the patient. A backup digital cardiac imaging system is also available.

To enhance and maintain the quality of the system, the CMHVI is utilizing state of the art quality testing equipment developed by the Society of Cardiac Angiography that will enable us to compare the performance of the imaging system to those of other institutions around the country, via a national database. This is being done because of our commitment that our patients will have the finest and safest catheterization and interventional procedures possible.

But imaging is only part of the story, since the patient's treatment both now and in the future, depends upon the accessibility of those images to the providers who can make decisions regarding their cardiac care. A digital archiving network will allow secure storage and retrieval of the data obtained in the cath lab, at a variety of review centers and, in the future, through the hospital's computerized medical record.

In order to safely and effectively perform cardiac catheterizations at the institute, all cardiologists who practice at CMMC will have access to these facilities, and their patients will have an opportunity to then be treated in a timely fashion by our cardiac interventionalists or surgeon should their condition require it.