The Main Line Health Heart Center at Paoli Hospital in the Philadelphia suburbs is dedicated to reducing the impact of heart disease and improving quality of life through comprehensive diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. As part of the Main Line Health Heart Center, we are nationally recognized for providing innovative, quality, patient-oriented heart care and leading-edge cardiovascular research and medical education. We are also committed to helping residents from all over the Philadelphia area identify and lower their risk of heart disease through our community outreach programs designed to promote heart-healthy lifestyles.

Non-Invasive Cardiac Services
Paoli Hospital's non-invasive cardiac diagnosis department performed approximately 8,000 cases in 2003. Our state-of-the-art testing includes transesophageal echo and the nuclear cardiac imaging Gamma Camera.

Interventional Cardiovascular Services 24/7
The Catheterization Laboratory at Paoli uses the GE Innova 2000 digital cardiovascular imaging system, the most sensitive imaging available. The lab conducted 1,817 cases in 2003.

Electrophysiology: We're with you Beat-by-Beat
Paoli Hospital's Electrophysiology Lab offers state-of-the-art care to our patients. Electrophysiology (also known as "EP") is a cardiac subspecialty dedicated to treating heart rhythm disorders. Our multidisciplinary approach for heart rhythm disorders includes careful medication management; or one of our advanced technologies, such as cardiac ablation, implantable defibrillator or pacemaker. Our Main Line Health Heart Center board-certified electrophysiologists specialize in cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, and insertion of pacemakers and defibrillators including biventricular pacers.

Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures:

• Electrophysiology Studies
  • Programmed Stimulation
  • Heart Mapping
• Radiofrequency Ablation
• Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICD)
• Cardiac Resynchronization
• Permanent Cardiac Pacemaker Implantation
  

Open Heart Surgery
Our experienced cardiac surgery team performed 169 procedures at Paoli in 2003. Specialties include coronary artery bypass surgery, minimally invasive mitral valve repair and stentless aortic valve replacements.

Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Paoli Hospital's accredited, nationally recognized Cardiac Rehabilitation Program is a customized program of exercise, nutrition, education and support groups designed to help heart patients become independent, self-assured, symptom-free, and able to resume a normal activity level. Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation is recommended for people who have had a recent heart attack, angina attack or open-heart surgery. Studies prove that cardiac rehabilitation services are beneficial for most patients.

Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation provides exercise, nutrition, education and support to help patients resume a normal lifestyle and level of activity. Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation at Paoli Hospital is designed to meet each patient's unique needs and is planned by the physician, the cardiac rehabilitation specialist and the patient. Ongoing Maintenance is available to all "graduates" of the Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. (For more information, call 610-648-1561 ).

Prevention and Community Education Programs
The Main Line Health Heart Center at Paoli Hospital believes prevention is key to maintaining a healthy heart. Our SmartHeart prevention program offers an array of classes and special programs. For a complete listing, call 1-866-CALL-MLH or Visit Here!

Clinical Research
The Main Line Health Heart Center is a leader in pioneering new cardiology diagnosis and treatment techniques. There are currently over two dozen clinical cardiovascular research studies underway at the Main Line Health Heart Center.

Notables

• 95% of veins for bypass surgery are harvested using a minimally invasive procedure
• 80% of mitral valve repairs are performed using a minimally invasive technique
• 92% of CABGs are performed "beating-heart," off the heart-lung machine, compared to the national average of 22%
• 20% of aortic valves are replaced with a "stentless" tissue valve, leaving more space for improved blood flow
• During surgery, by using cerebral oximetry to monitor and optimize oxygen saturation in all patients, surgeons reduced the incidence of stroke from 2.01% to .87%
• The OnQ catheter is a self contained delivery system for local anesthetic into the chest incision. It has significantly reduced the need for narcotics after open heart surgery
• Paoli Hospital is nationally ranked among the "Best of the Best" in patient satisfaction. For three consecutive years, Paoli has ranked in the 99th percentile in the Press Ganey inpatient satisfaction survey.