In today’s most advanced cardiac care hospitals, the cardiac cath lab is ground zero for the treatment of heart attack, coronary artery disease, and heart rhythm disturbances. Many patients who at one time were candidates for open heart surgery are now successfully treated with angioplasty, implants and stents. Since opening our Heart Center in 2000, Doylestown Hospital has seen a steady increase in the number of patients who need advanced procedures that are performed in a cath lab. So, to continue to provide our patients with the most advanced cardiac technologies and care in the most timely manner, we recently completed the construction of two new stateof- the-art labs, increasing the total number of cath labs in our Heart Center to four.

According to Cath Lab Director Michelle Clugston, one of the new labs is a dedicated EP lab. That means it will be used almost exclusively for electrophysiology studies, 3-D cardiac mapping, ablations, and ICD implants and pacemaker implants — all cutting-edge technologies used to treat patients with arrhythmias and heart failure.

In addition, the new labs are equipped with specialized cameras and high definition flat screen monitors that provide physicians with superb image quality. The labs’ integrated technology even includes the ability to diagnose using real-time 3-D images of the heart.

In 2006, more than 2000 catheterization procedures were performed at Doylestown Hospital, including more than 190 emergency angioplasties to stop a heart attack in progress. Ninety-two percent (92%) of heart attack patients treated at Doylestown Hospital had their blocked artery open in less than 90minutes (the AHA recommended time) compared with the national average of 69 percent. Doylestown Hospital is proud of our exceptional cath team, now even better prepared to care for the cardiac needs of our community.