Back to Annual Report

Innovating and Excelling at Complex Interventional Care

Collaboration across interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery creates optimized care plans for each patient—minimizing surgical trauma and recovery time.

Tom biking on the coast of Guam

PROGRAM DIFFERENTIATORS

• World-renowned experts in all structural heart procedures, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement
• Most experience in the world in transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement
• Pioneers in advanced procedural planning for transcatheter valve therapies
• Leadership in numerous clinical trials evaluating transcatheter valve replacement for mitral, tricuspid and pulmonary valves, published in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and the Journal of the American Medical Association
• Faculty editors and contributors to Complex Cases in Structural Heart Intervention, a compilation of richly documented case studies to guide users through complicated situations in interventional cardiology

SERVICE SPOTLIGHTS

• Robust and collaborative teams offering a range of procedures via minimally invasive catheterization
• Routinely conduct angiography, angioplasty, atherectomy, ablations and valvuloplasty
• More than 10,000 procedures per year on patients across the life continuum
• One of the few centers worldwide excelling in both percutaneous and surgical care for all four heart valves

the case

Tom Mazzei (59) was referred to Cedars-Sinai after a heart attack necessitated treatments unavailable in Guam. Tom and his wife made the journey to Los Angeles expecting open-heart surgery.

the care

Advanced imaging revealed a blockage in Tom’s left anterior descending artery that could be treated via a robotic mammary artery bypass—a procedure available at only a few hospitals across the globe. His surgeon diverted the mammary artery to feed blood to his heart. After a brief inpatient recovery period, Tom underwent minimally invasive stent placement via catheterization to relieve the blockage in his right coronary artery. Cross-disciplinary collaboration allowed reduced surgical trauma and a swifter return to physical activity for Tom.

the conclusion

Back in Guam for follow-up care with his own cardiologist, Tom has renewed his passion for long-distance bike rides and world travel—hobbies he is free to enjoy again with family and friends.