What the UnityPoint Health Cedar Rapids' Heart and Vascular Institute Means For You

Working together, our team of heart and vascular doctors give the Cedar Rapids community access to the highest level of cardiac care without having to travel. Not only does this save you time and money, but it could save your life. During emergencies like cardiac arrest and heart attacks, seconds can save lives. With access to the highest level of cardiac care right here in Cedar Rapids our patients receive crucial care sooner with fewer complications and higher survival rates.

UnityPoint Health Heart & Vascular Institute treats the most complicated heart conditions and offers:

• Better patient experience
• Better coordinated care
• Reduced costs by avoiding duplication of services such as diagnostic testing
• Clinical trials and research
• Leading edge technology and cardiovascular care keeping patients close to home

This cardiovascular expertise provides eastern Iowans access to heart care experts with advanced training and a wide range of specialties that focus on the following centers of excellence:

• Cardiac and vascular surgery
• Cardiovascular imaging
• Electrophysiology
• Advanced heart failure treatment and care
• Heart disease prevention
• Clinical trials and research
• Structural heart disease (including nonsurgical cardiac valve implantation)
• Coronary and vascular therapeutics

The Heart & Vascular Institute offers the following procedures and expertise:

• Impella assisted percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) — described as "the world's smallest heart pump" and is used to open blockages in heart arteries and allows doctors to place stents.
• Balloon Valvuloplasty — Balloon Valvuloplasty is a bridging therapy before another procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR.
• TAVR — ranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR is a less invasive procedure for individuals that are high risk or too sick for open-heart surgery. This minimally invasive surgical procedure repairs the damaged valve by placing a replacement valve into the aortic valve.
• Watchman — Also known as the atrial appendage closure. This procedure is appropriate for patients at risk of developing clots in the left atrium and may reduce a patient's risk of stroke and eliminate the need to take blood-thinning medication.
• VenaSeal procedure — Treats chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) also known as varicose veins, which is a serious medical issue.
• Advanced Heart Failure & Pulmonary Hypertension
• MitraClip — An alternative to open-heart surgery, this is a minimally invasive procedure to treat mitral regurgitation (MR), in which a small clip is attached to one of the mitral valve leaflets to help it close more completely.
• Shockwave — A treatment for individuals with severe heart disease. This catheter-based, new procedure delivers sonic pressure waves to fracture the buildup of calcified plaque in blocked arteries in order to reestablish blood flow. 
  
   

Heart & Vascular Institute Centers of Excellence & Innovation

UnityPoint Health - Cedar Rapids Heart & Vascular Institute advances the following Centers of Excellence in heart care.

Arrhythmia Management Center of Excellence