The Cardiovascular Intervention Center (CVIC) is a core element of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, performing more than 9,000 procedures a year. These procedures can be diagnostic, therapeutic or both.
The Cardiovascular Intervention Center is located on the sixth floor of the Professional Tower. In this laboratory, a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is performed for coronary artery disease, heart muscle function and heart valve dysfunction (or a combination of these). Procedures that involve therapeutic or diagnostic actions on the heart or blood vessels without making an incision to open up the body are called cardiovascular interventional procedures.
Many procedures done in the Cardiovascular Intervention Center involve heart catheterization, a process by which wires are threaded through an artery to the heart where various procedures can be done. These include:
- Angiography
- Angioplasty and stenting of arteries
- Laser or intracoronary stent
- Heart muscle biopsy
- Pacemaker insertion, both permanent and temporary
- Directional coronary atherectomy
- Insertion of implantable defibrillators and biventricular pacemakers
- Removing abnormal fluid or blood that may have accumulated around the heart
- Electrophysiology studies
- Radiofrequency ablation for cardiac arrhythmias
- Septal ablation
- Valvuloplasty
Included in the Cardiovascular Intervention Center is the Electrophysiology Laboratory . In this laboratory, a wide range of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for irregular heartbeats is performed. These procedures include electrophysiology studies, arrhythmia mapping, radiofrequency ablation, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation and pacemaker implantation and adjustments.
The doctors, nurses and technicians who work in the Cardiovascular Intervention Center are experts in the use of the state-of-the-art technology and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as well as having experience in identifying and treating emergency cardiac intervention.
One of the most exciting additions to the CVIC is the Heartlab system. This state-of-the-art cardiac data management system is the first of its kind at a Los Angeles medical center. The system allows clinicians to immediately view clear digital images and have instantaneous access to diagnostic cardiac catheterization images stored on a server. Within seconds physicians can access up to 70,000 archived cases. As a result, all cardiac diagnoses are faster, more efficient and more timely for the best patient care and treatment.
