OhioHealth Continues to Set Industry Trends in the Heart and Vascular Field

 OhioHealth interventional cardiologists at Riverside Methodist Hospital continue to lead the way in the heart and vascular field, getting ahead of cutting-edge technology to not only look for new ways to care for patients and help them feel comfortable while receiving treatment, but also to educate other providers on what’s out there.

“I think it’s important that we develop new devices because eventually we will always find something better than what we’re using now and it’s also important for us to be familiar with what’s available because that’s how we also help the industry advance the field,” said interventional cardiologist, Joseph Campbell, MD.

Every month, OhioHealth physicians see many patients experiencing symptoms and complications from pulmonary embolism or PE. 

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blood clot that develops in a blood vessel in the body. Many patients suffering from PE experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, pain or swelling. If not treated correctly, PE can be life-threatening.

“Unfortunately, we see patients late, who are really suffering,” Dr. Campbell says. “In the PE space they might be living with chronic shortness of breath or develop pulmonary hypertension and limitations associated with that because they didn’t get the treatment they needed initially.”

There are several devices available to treat patients within the PE space, but when next generation devices come out, interventional cardiologists at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist quickly research and learn how it can help their patients more effectively.

This spring, the AlphaVac device was used at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital by Dr. Campbell and his team. OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital was the first healthcare system in the world to use this device to remove a PE.  The AlphaVac made by AngioDynamics, is a multi-purpose mechanical aspiration thrombectomy device for non-surgical removal of thrombi or emboli from the vasculature, or in layman’s terms is designed to suction out clots in multiple locations in the body.

Photo Courtesy: Angiodynamics

“For a patient, knowing that you’re at an institution with leaders in the field who have thought extensively about this problem and are committed to improving patient outcomes by developing treatment algorithms aimed at optimizing patient selection for advanced treatments related to PE,” Dr. Campbell says. “Being at the forefront of this field both clinically and academically has allowed us to continually improve our patient outcomes both acutely and in the long-term by refining our comprehensive care pathways as new data and treatments become available.”

The use of the AlphaVac system for treatment of Pulmonary Embolism is considered off-label.