Case of the Month!

This patient presented with congestive heart failure and had cardiac catheterization at an outside hospital which demonstrated severe triple vessel coronary artery disease with very low heart pumping function (ejection fraction 20%).  Patient was told he was too high risk for surgery or coronary intervention.  He came to Advent Health for second opinion.  After extensive evaluation, he underwent high-risk multi-vessel stenting by Dr. Weinstock with stenting of the left main coronary artery, left anterior descending artery, and left circumflex marginal branch.  (Right coronary was chronically occluded).

Dr. Weinstock became the first physician ever at Advent Health to perform intervention in the cardiac catheterization lab by placing the patient on Tandem Life extra-corporeal life support (ECLS)!  This procedure essentially places the patient on "bypass" with an external pump supporting the patient's circulation during the procedure.  The patient was weaned off of ECLS at the conclusion of the procedure and the large arterial and venous catheters were removed without complication.