Many innovative techniques have been developed or tested by cardiologists at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. For example, our cardiologists

• Were chosen by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to test the balloon angioplasty technique.
• Received the first approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use a laser to clean plaque out of arteries in the legs.
• Were involved in the early clinical trials of an atherectomy catheter, a drill-like device that shaves plaque from artery walls.
• Developed and tested some of the earliest stents for the coronary arteries.
• Assessed new heart drugs such as diuretics, nitroglycerin, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, clot-busters, and cholesterol-lowering medicines.
• Collected one of the world’s largest libraries of heart-sounds, with more than 3000 recordings.
• Implanted the first abdominal aortic stent graft using only local anesthesia.
• Developed and tested some of the earliest stent grafts used to repair aneurysms of the abdominal aorta.
• Investigated the use of lasers to make tiny holes in the heart muscle from the inside of the heart, a procedure called percutaneous transmyocardial revascularization which allows blood to flow to oxygen-starved areas of the heart.
• Developed special methods for imaging the heart muscle to aid in diagnosis.
• Were the first in Texas to use a medicine-coated stent designed to prevent re-narrowing of coronary arteries.

The Research section of this website provides more detail.

Updated March 2008