Cardiac Catheterization

At Fletcher Allen, we provide comprehensive treatment for patients with heart and vascular disease, and our cardiac catheterization program rivals or surpasses those found at top-rated medical centers in the country. 

What is Cardiac Catheterization?
This procedure can be used to both diagnose and treat blockages in the arteries, which take blood to your heart.

Program Highlights

• Saving Time Saves Lives. Rapid treatment of heart attack is essential to save lives and limit damage to the heart. "Door-to-balloon time" is a measure of the time between the patient's arrival at the hospital, and when his or her blocked artery is cleared. Our "door-to-balloon" times are among the best in the nation, greatly exceeding both the national guideline and the national average.

• More Procedures = More Experience. Our program is having this success while being among the busiest in the country -- performing approximately 5,000 procedures each year. Frequency equals experience. Research demonstrates that the more cases a program performs, the better the outcomes.

• Pioneering New and Improved Treatments. At Fletcher Allen, we are proud to have treated the first patient in the U.S. with intracoronary gene therapy, and the first patient in the New England area with a paclitaxel-coated stent.

This caliber of care can be offered only by a university hospital with a highly active research program.

What does all of this mean to you as a patient? It means you have access to some of the best cardiac care available in the country provided by nationally renowned specialists, right here in Vermont.