Providing Distinctively Excellent Cardiac Care Among San Fernando Valley’s most distinguished providers of cardiovascular care, the heart specialists of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center consistently receive prestigious accolades for expert diagnosis and treatment of more than 2,000 cardiac patients each year. The California Office of State Health Planning and Development consistently reports that Providence Saint Joseph produces better than average survival rates for the treatment of heart attack and for coronary artery bypass surgery. Healthcare quality evaluation agency HealthGrades® rates Providence Saint Joseph as a five-star medical provider in the categories of heart attack and heart failure treatment. Patients rank Providence Saint Joseph among the top five heart programs in the Los Angeles area, according to a preference survey conducted by the National Research Corporation.
Proudly providing an impressive range of state-of-the-art services and programs – including the diagnosis and medical management of cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, and cardiac surgery utilizing traditional and minimally invasive techniques – the Providence Saint Joseph heart specialists continue to innovate and refine world-class cardiovascular care in the heart of Burbank.
Enhancing Quality-of-Life Through Surgical Expertise
Millions of Americans suffer from heart arrhythmias and require permanent pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) to stabilize their heart rhythms. Eventually, the leads – thin, flexible wires that travel through a vein and deliver energy to the heart muscle from the pacemaker or ICD – may become infected, damaged or non-functional. Lead extraction surgery is the removal of one or more leads from the inside of the heart and veins with special tools that safely release the lead from the scar tissue. The extraction is performed by hooking a special wire onto the inside of the lead, or by placing a snare through a vein to grasp the outside of the lead. The physician then pushes a plastic tube with a laser over the lead to help separate it from the scar tissue in the veins and the heart. The plastic tubes, or sheaths, break the scar tissue to prevent tearing the veins or heart. Then new leads and pacemakers or defibrillators can be implanted during the same surgery. This has saved many patients multiple surgeries or prolonged hospital stays. Patients usually leave the hospital the day after the procedure. In most circumstances, the patient is able to resume normal activities relatively soon after the surgery.
Refining an Innovative Surgical Technique
Lead extraction was not consistently performed until 1988 when better tools became available to safely release the lead from the scar tissue. A registry of lead extraction procedures has been carefully maintained since that time. Usually the complete lead is removed; however, sometimes a small segment is left behind. This is usually not a problem and may be enough to allow the patient to continue living with no further interference from the partially removed lead. Approximately 90% of all leads are completely removed with current techniques. The risk and success of lead extraction depends on having the best tools, taking appropriate precautions and utilizing an experienced physician and team. Raymond Schaerf, M.D.
 Only a handful of physicians in the world routinely perform lead extraction surgery. Raymond Schaerf, M.D., Chief of Staff at Providence Saint Joseph in Burbank, was among the first in the world to perform lead extraction surgery using an excimer laser. To date, he has removed more than 1,300 leads, which makes him one of the most experienced lead extraction specialists not only in the U.S., but also in the world. Medical School: New York Medical College
Specialties: Cardiovascular Surgery, Thoracic Surgery
Board Certifications: Thoracic Surgery
Internships: Yale-New Haven Medical Center
Fellowships: University of Miami Medical Center
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish, French, German
For more information about lead extraction surgery at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center,
call 818-843-2334 or 1-888-HEALING (1-888-432-5464).
|
