A combination of echocardiography and cardiac catheterization, IVUS provides a moving picture of your heart from inside the heart rather than through the chest wall.
“IVUS brings us views inside the coronary arteries like we’ve never seen before,” said Laurence Conway, MD, director of the MelroseWakefield Cardiovascular Center. “By inserting the IVUS device into the artery, we have a clear, real-time view that shows us the degree of narrowing or thickening of the artery and can quantify the percentage of narrowing and the nature of the plaque on the artery walls. IVUS technology provides the most state-of-the-art cardiac imaging and data to our toolkit.”
The precise imagery now available with IVUS can mean an immediate, more accurate evaluation of the size and nature of a plaque blockage in an artery, saving precious time for a patient with heart failure or heart attack.
The MelroseWakefield Cardiovascular Center cath lab examines how the heart is working, identifies any problems and performs procedures to open blocked arteries. MelroseWakefield Hospital is the only community hospital in the area that offers emergency cardiac cath lab procedures.
Working collaboratively with Tufts Medical Center, the cardiovascular center brings more expert services to the community, serving as a teaching program for Tufts Medical Center fellowship students. Many of our providers also hold teaching appointments at Tufts University School of Medicine.
To learn more about the MelroseWakefield Cardiovascular Center or to find a cardiologist, visit cardiology.
