Denton County Living Well Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 19

What’s Throwing
Off the Beat?
Electrophysiologists on the medical staff
at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton can help you find out.
When something goes wrong during the
intricate series of electrical actions that
produce each heartbeat, the heart may
pump erratically, too fast or too slow; these
abnormal, potentially dangerous heartbeats are called arrhythmias. The Cardiac
Electrophysiology (EP) Lab at the Texas
Health Denton Heart and Vascular Center
is your local destination for diagnosis and
treatment of irregular heartbeats.

Caring for your

Most Important Muscle
Courtesy Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton

From the four chambers of your heart to the thousands of miles of
blood vessels throughout your body, your heart and vascular system
are in good hands at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton
Heart and Vascular Center.

t

exas Health Denton is a regional leader in helping hearts. The hospital
has earned recognition from the Society of Chest Pain Centers for
outstanding care of cardiac patients and was the first in Denton
County to receive Primary Stroke Center certification from The Joint
Commission for adhering to nationally recognized, evidence-based
protocols for stroke care.
Patients don’t need to drive to the Metroplex to find the complete range of
cardiac facilities, programs and services, including:

• Cardiac imaging, featuring a
64-slice computed tomography
scanner
• Cardiac surgery, including
minimally invasive procedures
• Cardiac rehabilitation, a 12week program of monitored
exercise and lifestyle education
following heart attack
or surgery

• Cardiopulmonary care
• Cardiovascular care unit
• Diagnosis and treatment of
sleep disorders, which can be
linked to heart disease, at the
Center for Sleep Disorders
• Echocardiography
• Electrophysiology (see “What’s
Throwing Off the Beat?”)

Texas Health Denton renovated the EP
Lab – the first facility in Denton dedicated
to caring for arrhythmia patients – in
2013, upgrading technologies and expanding the space to allow electrophysiologists to reduce patient wait times and care
for more individuals. Procedures performed
include cardiac mapping, a minimally
invasive technique of pinpointing where
arrhythmias originate; ablation, a catheterbased method of destroying the sources
of arrhythmias using heat or cold; and
defibrillator and pace-maker implantation,
insertion of devices that help the heart
achieve appropriate rhythm.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
Denton was the first in Denton to offer
percutaneous abdominal aortic aneurysm
repair, a minimally invasive procedure to
treat abnormal swelling of sections of the
aortic artery. During the procedure, the
surgeon places a stent – a hollow, mesh
tube – in the artery through a catheter to
reshape the vessel and reduce the risk of
the aneurysm bursting.
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