Initial Considerations for Successful PCI Program Expansion to Open Heart Surgery

Many hospitals nationwide have seen the benefits of expanding invasive cardiac services to include PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) without open heart surgery on-site.   Although these hospitals have the opportunity to provide advanced interventional cardiac care, they are limited as per the SCAI/ACC/AHA Expert Consensus Document:  Update on Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Without On-Site Surgical Backup that…

Regulatory Changes in Cardiac Care

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was first introduced in 1974 by pioneer Andreas Grüntzig and has evolved to include multiple devices in the treatment of complex coronary anatomy.  The use of PCI has progressively grown over the past 30 years, mostly in part due to expanded indications, improved equipment, the continued evolution of coronary stents, along…

COVID-19 Impact on Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Volumes

Since COVID-19 showed up in December of 2019, every area of medicine has been affected, and Cardiology is no exception. The number of cases cardiologists have performed since the coronavirus pandemic began has drastically declined. Corazon accredits cardiovascular catheterization labs across the country to perform percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). Through this accreditation, we monitor client…