Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute has achieved a high ranking for heart-related lifesaving measures.

The recently released Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council Cardiac Procedures Report shows that together, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg and Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono, in 2020 and 2021, used catheters to place stents to open blocked coronary arteries in heart attack patients 1,160 times.

In the procedure, known in medical terms as a percutaneous coronary intervention, interventional cardiologists use a catheter to place a stent to open a narrowed or blocked heart artery. The procedure is minimally invasive and avoids more aggressive open-heart bypass surgery.

“Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute consistently ranks among the best in the nation for heart attack survival, a credit to the dedication and expertise of everyone who cares for our patients,” says Ronald Freudenberger, MD, Physician In Chief, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute. “Performing at such a high volume, while maintaining great outcomes, is what every great heart and vascular program strives to do.”

The Heart and Vascular Institute also was tops in the region for the same procedure for patients without a heart attack and for cardiac bypass surgery.

The PHC4 report also included statistics on aortic valve replacements, both those done surgically and those accomplished through a minimally invasive method with a catheter, known as a transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

For the less invasive TAVR, LVH–Cedar Crest was in the top 25 percent among 44 hospitals reporting the procedure, with 396 TAVR procedures in the study period. In the open-heart surgical aortic valve replacement procedure, LVH–Cedar Crest was fourth among 50 hospitals with 163 SAVR operations.

Final Ramble of 2023