In February, the Children's Heart Institute at Miller Children's & Women's, along with the MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center, hosted a special ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a completely renovated catheterization (cath) laboratory (lab). The new cath lab includes bi-plane imaging, providing cardiologists with the ability to see the heart from multiple perspectives, which is particularly helpful for procedures in children. In honor of the occasion, Jonathan Flores, field representative, presented a certificate of recognition on behalf of State Senator Ricardo Lara.
Miller Children's & Women's and Long Beach Medical Center have a suite of five cardiac cath labs, which are examination rooms with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualize the chambers and arteries of the heart to treat abnormalities. Through generous philanthropic donations, the hospitals were able to completely renovate the cath lab.
Bi-plane imaging also allows doctors to follow the path of blood flow through your vessels to create a "roadmap" for treating each patient's unique condition. The digital x-ray technology uses two mounted rotating cameras, one on each side of you, to take simultaneous pictures. The two sets of images are brought together on a computer screen to form a 3-D portrait of the heart.
“The advanced technology and imaging capability of the new cath lab, will provide us the ability to better visualize the heart and create a 3-D image. This will greatly enhance our ability for interventions on children using balloons, stents and specialized catheters to correct congenital or acquired heart defects,” says Saar Danon, M.D., medical director, pediatric cardiology and congenital cardiac catheterization, Miller Children’s & Women’s. “The image we are able to produce will allow us to print a 3-D version of the heart, so we can determine the best treatment option for each individual child.”