Baptist Health Richmond is the first hospital in the state to use a piece of new technology to help with diagnosis of Coronary Microvascular disease. It comes through the use of a pressure wire guidewire as part of a heart catheterization. The new computerized technology is found in the Corventis Coroflow Cardiovascular System. Chief Medical Officer Erica Gregonis (greh-GOH-nis) said this disease affects the small blood vessels and, with a traditional catheterization, not diagnosed. “Patients with this microvascular disease still have considerable risk of cardiac events including heart failure, including heart attack, stroke, death. That’s why it’s really important for us to be able to tell patients definitively do they have microvascular disease or not,” said Gregonis.
If determined to be the case, Gregonis noted it can help doctors guide their drug therapy. Hospital Cath Lab Clinical Manager Kasey Allex said patients may be told their main blood vessels are clear, but they still suffer chest discomfort. “They may end up kind of tossed around from one referral to another referral, trying to find answers. But, being able to provide this diagnosis, if the patient has this diagnosis, that all stops at that moment. They now have a diagnosis, their doctor can now taper their medications specifically to that diagnosis.
Allex said these patients’ quality of life can be much improved after this diagnostic test. Allex noted four patients have had the procedure over the last two weeks in Richmond.
