Committed
to cardiology
South Carolina in Charleston and Erasme
Coly, MD, has privileges at St. Joseph/
Candler in Savannah. Invasive car-
diologist Shannon Shook, MD, works
at Lowcountry Medical Group with
Dr. Smalheiser and performs diagnostic
cardiac catheterizations at BMH.
Lawrence was transported by am-
bulance to Roper, where Dr. Harshman
performed surgery to place two stents in
the artery leading to the front of his heart.
A stent is a tiny, collapsible mesh tube
inserted into the artery by catheter and
then expanded and locked into place to
hold open an artery.
“Performing the diagnostic studies in
Beaufort and the interventions at Roper
has worked quite well,” Dr. Harshman
says. “It’s a seamless transition from here
to the tertiary centers.”
Beaufort resident Gloria Hamilton was
sent to St. Joseph/Candler by Dr. Coly
after a diagnostic catheterization per-
formed at BMH revealed a 70 percent
blockage in her main artery. She had a
stent implanted to reopen the artery and
improve blood fow. She continues to see
Dr. Coly twice a year for follow-up care.
“I look and feel better than I have in
years,” says the 68-year-old Beaufort
resident. “Everything seems to be clicking
along.”
In the last two years, Beaufort
Memorial has expanded and enhanced
the Cochrane Heart Center, adding four
cardiologists to the staf and innovative
diagnostic techniques to its roster of
services.
“Te hospital is now capable of ofering
most cardiac services, including implan-
tation of defbrillators and pacemakers,”
says Dr. Coly, who has been on staf at
BMH since 2001. “Te need to go to ter-
tiary centers has been minimized.”
Among the new procedures now avail-
able at BMH is the radial approach to
cardiac catheterization. Tis diagnos-
tic technique is performed from the
patient’s wrist rather than the femoral
artery in the leg. Using a small hole
in the radial artery, surgeons are able
to access blood vessels leading to the
heart to determine if there is disease in
the coronary arteries.
Catheterization from the radial ar-
tery reduces major bleeding and allows
the patient to get up and moving sooner
following the procedure. Dr. Smalheiser
and Dr. Schultz both perform the
technique.
James Roth, 63, has had both types
of catheterizations. When he began
having chest pains last summer,
Dr. Smalheiser used the radial ap-
proach to diagnose the problem.
“When they go through the leg, you
can’t move for fve hours,” Roth says.
—continued from page 13
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