Swiss medicine is currently experiencing a boom in invasive cardiology, driven by advances in technology and its high effectiveness. Interventional or invasive cardiology is the medical specialty devoted to procedures on the chambers and vessels of the heart (the coronary arteries) performed without surgery. Invasive cardiology treatments are carried out by means of catheterisation.
A catheter (a thin, flexible plastic tube) is inserted into the vascular system (arteries or veins) and guided under radiological control to the chamber or artery to be treated.
Surgical procedures in cardiology often led to morbidity and mortality. The main risk lay in the procedure itself rather than the disease. Then, with the development of new equipment, interventional cardiology gradually took shape, bringing with it the idea of outpatient treatment under local anaesthesia, without hospital admission.
Today, more than 85% of coronary revascularisations and procedures can be performed percutaneously.
Swiss universities have joined the programme to develop invasive cardiology, as have the Genolier clinics in Geneva (Clinique des Eaux-Vives) and Lausanne (Clinique de Montchoisi), represented by a team of cardiologists: Ali Basti, Alain Guidon, Stéphane Mock, Mohamed Oulhaci, Bruno Schnetzler, Henri Sunthorn and Vitali Verin. The new-generation cardiovascular technical platform allows patients to attend the clinic even without private insurance for treatment of a wide range of cardiovascular problems.
The main benefits of invasive cardiology for patients
- a smaller, less costly procedure under local rather than general anaesthesia
- a shorter hospital stay
- significantly fewer complications
Treatment without surgery
“During the procedure we view an image that allows us to guide the catheter through the maze of vessels and intervene precisely at the affected site of the heart or vessels,” says Dr Verin. “We can now treat our patients directly, without relying on surgeons, and their recovery is almost immediate.”
Invasive cardiology also makes it possible to treat effectively older patients or those who cannot tolerate the general anaesthesia required for heart surgery.
An adaptable method for a wide range of heart diseases
Interventional cardiology can replace surgical treatment and is becoming increasingly widespread. Clinique de Genolier takes pride in its adoption of modern technology and its outstanding specialists in this field: Dr Verin (interventional cardiologist) and Dr Sunthorn (cardiac rhythm specialist). Their knowledge and experience complement each other. This interdisciplinary collaboration in turn raises the quality of services at the Genolier clinics:
- cardiology
- interventional angiography
- coronary angioplasty
- vascular reconstruction
- stent implantation
- intracardiac connections
- arrhythmia
Arrhythmia
Arrhythmia is a group of heart conditions that manifest as an excessive heartbeat, a slow heartbeat (bradycardia), complete cardiac arrest (asystole), irregular or excessively fast beats (tachycardia), or impaired synchronisation between the different chambers of the heart, including between the right and left ventricles.
A cardiac rhythm specialist has a range of interventions available to treat arrhythmia, such as:
- Implanting pacemakers to prevent the heart from slowing down or to prevent a heart attack.
- Using defibrillators to stop an arrhythmia rapidly.
- Cardiac resynchronisation to improve symptoms and survival in patients with heart failure.
- Arrhythmia ablation, to correct the rhythm quickly and percutaneously (removing the source of the arrhythmia) using radiofrequency (heat) or cryotherapy (cold).
Cryotherapy is currently one of the most popular treatments for fibrillation (atrial fibrillation). It is the most widely used among the population owing to its proven effectiveness and advantages. It is an easy-to-use, safer and less painful method for patients.
