Cardiac patients in Marin may now have safer and shorter cardiac procedures and can now be treated for blood vessel disease because of a new, state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Marin General Hospital. The $3.2 million project was unveiled last week.

"This is the best technology for the best possible care," said Dr. Joel Sklar, the hospital's Cardiology Division Chief. "This technology offers physicians greater visualization of the heart and other affected areas. There may also be less radiation exposure to patients and staff, because procedures should take less time with this new equipment."

In addition to an enhanced X-ray imaging, the General Electric Cath Lab features a hemodynamic (pressure) monitoring system that allows for greater clinical efficiency in monitoring, collecting, analyzing and storing data.

The new technology also expands Marin General¹s ability to treat blood vessel disease outside the heart, including the legs, kidneys and the carotid arteries that serve the brain. Physicians plan to introduce carotid artery stenting for selected patients as an alternative to open surgery.

"This is a less invasive procedure for people with clogged arteries to the brain," Sklar said. "In conjunction with our radiologists, we have long offered angioplasty and stenting for the heart and legs. The new Cath Lab will allow us to extend that capability to the carotid arteries."

MGH's cardiac program has a long history of excellence and innovation. It had the first Cardiac Catheterization Lab in the county and was among the first in the Bay Area to use angioplasty from the radial artery in the wrist. Several recent national surveys have documented excellent outcomes:

The National Registry of Myocardial Infarction has consistently shown that heart attack patients in need of emergency angioplasty get from the Emergency Room to the Cath Lab much faster (more than 30 minutes faster) than the national average, resulting in better outcomes. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons recently released its data for 2004 and 2005, showing that MGH's cardiac surgical mortality was less than half the predicted rate for comparable hospitals.