New technology, new care: Cape hospitals step up fight against heart disease

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans, and that fact is reflected in the local medical community.

Dr. Randy Brown, cardiothoracic surgeon at Cardiac & Vascular Surgeons of Southeast Missouri Hospital, says the institution has all the cutting-edge technologies and procedures. For example, beating heart surgery -- which allows the surgeon to operate without stopping the heart, reducing the risk of surgery -- has been performed at Southeast for nearly 15 years. According to Brown, only 10 percent of U.S. hospitals can perform beating heart surgeries, but about 70 percent of Southeast's cardiac surgeries are beating heart surgeries. The hospital also performs MAZE procedures to correct atrial fibrillation and abnormal heart rhythms that may lead to complications like stroke or heart failure. MAZE surgery is made less risky by allowing the surgeon to ablate only certain areas of the heart, says Brown.

And as the geriatric population continues to grow, so will the importance of developing new technologies and less invasive surgeries, says Brown.

"People are living longer," he explains. "It's like when you have a car for a long time -- eventually you have to start repairing parts if you want to keep it for a long time. With increasing rates of obesity, diabetes and smoking, body parts are wearing out more and at earlier stages."

In the next couple years, Brown expects to see less invasive procedures and new catheter-based valve replacements.

"The number of people requiring bypass surgery has gone down, likely because of cholesterol-lowering medications, or statins, combined with blood thinners ... but the number of people requiring valve surgery has gone up," says Brown. He adds, "There's always new stuff going on. The question is how to use the technology for the right patient."

Saint Francis Medical Center broke ground on a four-story, 180,000-square-foot Heart Hospital and Cancer Institute in July 2008, and completion is expected within a year and a half.

Southeast Missouri Hospital Heart Center (Submitted photo)

Dr. Edward Bender, cardiac surgeon at Saint Francis, looks forward to additional labs for three-dimensional echocardiography, which offers a real-time view of the heart and valves. Surgeons will also perform robotic open heart surgeries, an important tool for visualizing the valves and enabling the best possible repair, says Bender. Thanks to these less invasive methods, the average hospital stay will be only two days and recovery time will be much shorter. Older, sicker patients will be able to undergo aortic valve surgeries once deemed too risky.

"Technology improves in baby steps," says Bender. "We tend to do the same types of operations we're used to doing, but they're becoming less invasive with smaller incisions and less risk to the patient."

Like Brown, Bender believes that as long as Americans continue to age and lead unhealthy lifestyles, cardiology will continue to advance in technology.

"Heart disease continues to be the No. 1 killer of Americans," says Bender. "As we continue to eat and get more and more obese the problem is not going to go away, so cardiology will remain an important segment of American medical care for the foreseeable future."

Meanwhile, Cardiovascular Consultants is building a new facility at Bloomfield Road and Broadview Street. Work began on the 27,000-square-foot building in early July and is expected for completion in late April or early May of this year.

Construction is underway at Saint Francis Medical Center's new Heart Hospital and Cancer Institute. (Submitted photo)

Office manager Lois Soellner says Cardiovascular Consultants quickly outgrew its current facility of three years. It already has the latest technology, like echocardiograms, but will soon enjoy an improved layout and design, which Soellner believes will be more comfortable for both patients and employees. For example, patients using a treadmill for stress tests will be able to look out the window instead of at a wall.

The current Cardiovascular Consultants building has only nine exam rooms, and the waiting room is often too small to hold all the patients, adds Soellner. The new building will have 20 exam rooms, a bigger parking lot and waiting room, doctor's offices in a no-patient zone, and an upper level with a kitchen, lounge, conference room, restrooms, and more space for medical records.

"It was built with the patient in mind," says Soellner. "We want to be conscious of patients' time. They don't like waiting, and this will improve the flow of the office."