Comprehensive Heart Care

The Brainerd Lakes Heart & Vascular Center offers a full range of services, from Prevention and Early Detection to Chronic Disease Management to Non-Invasive and Invasive Diagnostics to Treatment. The Center currently consists of the following four areas:

Cardiovascular Clinic

Cardiovascular Clinic staff members are responsible for prepping patients' charts, patient flow and patient scheduling. They also manage Heart Center physicians' schedules and act as liaisons to different specialty departments to coordinate

• Patient care and procedures
• Electrocardiograms
• Blood work

Cardiac Catheterization Lab

The Cardiac Catheterization Lab is an entirely new service for the Brainerd area and allows you and other Brainerd Lakes area citizens the benefit of having diagnostic and interventional procedures performed at St. Joseph's Medical Center instead of having to travel 100 miles or more for gold-standard heart care.

The all-new Cath Lab is equipped to perform:

• Angiography: Analysis of the blood vessels
• Percutaneous Balloon Angioplasty: Opening of clogged arteries
• Stent Placement: Keeping arteries open after angioplasty
• Intravascular Ultrasound: Using a tiny ultrasound probe inside the artery to visualize and measure problem areas
• Permanent Pacemaker Placement
• Implanted Defibrillator Placement
• Measurement of blood flow from the heart
• Analysis of heart condition and valve size

The equipment in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab is all brand new, state-of-the-art and allows physicians to use lower doses of contrast agents.

Echocardiology/Stress Lab

The ECHO/Stress Lab specializes in several different variations of Ultrasound Imaging of the heart as well as Nuclear studies that show heart muscle function and whether heart tissue has been damaged. Some tests are designed to show how the heart functions under stress (exercise), so they are done in conjunction with a treadmill. If a patient is unable to walk on a treadmill, exercise can be simulated with medications.

Cardiovascular Diagnostics

The Cardiovascular Diagnostics care area covers several diagnostic testing functions, including:

• Arterial/Brachial Index: Comparing blood pressure readings in arms and legs to diagnose problems in these areas
• Holter monitors: Devices that monitor electrical heart activity and are worn home and throughout normal daily activities, then analyzed by a physician
• Pulmonary Function Tests: Tests lungs and their function under various conditions
• EKG or Electrocardiograms: Measure the electrical activity of the heart with and without stress (exercise)
• Pacemaker monitoring and follow-up care
• EEG: Recording electrical patterns of the brain
• Respiratory Therapy: Assessment and treatment of breathing disorders

Services

Clinical Cardiology Programs

• Management of peripheral vascular disease
• Advanced arrhythmia protocols
• Expanded prevention services
• Consultative cardiology
• Chronic disease management for Chronic Heart Failure

Non-Invasive Diagnostic Imaging

• Stress testing
• Echocardiography
• Stress echocardiography
• Peripheral vascular studies
• Nuclear studies
• Transesophageal echo
• Cardiac CT Angiography (available in May)

Invasive/Interventional Cardiology Services

• Cardiac catheterization (diagnostic/interventional/stent placement)
• Invasive diagnostics (diagnostic angiography)
• Pacemakers/Implantable cardiac defibrillators

Interventional Peripheral Vascular Disease Services

• Blocked arteries of the legs

Inpatient Care

• Pre/Post interventional care
• Cardiovascular telemetry
• Emergency cardiac treatment