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H E A LT H L I N KS 8 | PULSE W i n t e r 2 0 1 5 M any cardiovascular problems can be treated in the cardiac catheterization lab—also known as the cath lab— where heart abnormalities can be corrected with minimally invasive procedures. Other cardiac problems require surgery in a traditional operating room. Torrance Memorial Medical Center can do it all in a state- of-the-art hybrid operating room at its Lundquist Cardiovascular Institute: e hybrid OR gives the hospital's vascular surgeons and interventional cardiologists maximum flexibility to use the treatments most appropriate for each patient. Over the past decade, medicine has been rapidly moving away from maxi- mally invasive open surgery toward minimally invasive, catheter-based procedures. A hybrid operating room is set up for those sophisticated proce- dures, while also meeting the sterility and equipment standards of a tradi- tional operating room. It allows pro- viders to perform high-risk, minimally invasive procedures and switch to open surgery without moving the patient if a dire complication arises. e hybrid OR is used to perform a full range of endovascular services, including abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. It's also used for carotid artery stenting, a procedure in which a tube or other device is used to expand the vital arteries that supply oxygenated blood to the head and neck, thereby reducing the risk of stroke. In the not-so-distant past, compli- cated heart procedures could only be performed using open-heart surgery. Today physicians use angiography, tak- ing advantage of the pathways of the arteries to reach the heart. Rather than cutting into the body, they can make a small nick in the skin to feed a thin, hollow tube—called a catheter—into a nearby blood vessel. reading the catheter along the arteries to reach the heart, physicians can access blood vessels and open arteries, open or replace valves, and correct heart defects. "Having the imaging systems nec- essary for angiography as well as the equipment necessary for open incisions gives us the ability to perform proce- dures that require both modalities in the most effective manner," says vascu- lar surgeon Amir Kaviani, MD. "Tor- rance Memorial Medical Center was the first hospital in Southern California to create a hybrid lab in 2007, a radical advancement in vascular surgery." An even more advanced hybrid OR was central to the hospital's plans for the Lundquist Tower. With the tower's November 2014 opening, the new hy- brid OR paved the way for the medical center to become first in the South Bay to offer even more advanced proce- dures such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement, known as TAVR. TAVR enables patients once con- sidered inoperable due to complex medical conditions to undergo life- extending heart valve replacement. A catheter is used to insert and precisely position an artificial heart valve. A bal- loon is inflated inside the valve to cause it to spring open; with the passage re-opened, the heart can more easily pump blood to the rest of the body. One patient who underwent TAVR at Torrance Memorial Medical Center was 95 years old. "She was very symptomatic and very frail—not a good candidate for open heart surgery," says interventional cardiologist Salman Azam, MD. "e results of the procedure were excellent, and she was discharged home within a few days. Torrance Memorial Medical Center is now at the forefront of cardiovascular treatment options, performing cutting-edge procedures and surgeries to provide the best outcomes for patients with cardiac diseases. e state-of-the-art hybrid OR, TAVR procedure and the new Lundquist Tower are just a few examples of the dedication and commitment Torrance Memorial has to its patients." For more information about treatments available at Torrance Memorial Medical Center or for referral to a heart specialist, please call 310-517-4700. WRITTEN BY NANCY SOKOLER STEINER | PHOTOGRAPHED BY JEFF BERTING HYBRID SUCCESS TORRANCE MEMORIAL'S HYBRID OPERATING ROOM OFFERS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR PROCEDURES. In addition to TAVR, an array of vascular procedures are performed in the hybrid OR. Some of these include: • Repair of thoracic and abdomi- nal aortic aneurysms (bulges in the aorta at risk of bursting) • Carotid artery stenting (open- ing a blockage in the carotid artery and placing a small tube to keep the artery open) • Peripheral angiography and intervention (diagnosing and treating blockages in the arteries of the legs and lower body).