We Put Heart Into Your Care
With world-class technology and renowned heart experts on staff, your care is in the capable hands of ThedaCare’s exceptional cardiovascular team. We will guide you through every step of your treatment with the most advanced technology and procedures available, all delivered with compassionate and skilled care by our experienced team.
Our highly trained doctors and medical staff work side-by-side with your primary care provider and other specialists to determine the appropriate course of action for your unique diagnosis.
We offer a variety of treatment options, which may include lifestyle changes, medication and non-invasive and invasive surgery.
Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery
Known as the most invasive treatment option for heart disease, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery is surgery on the heart, lungs or great vessels performed by cardiothoracic surgeons.
Your cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon will evaluate your condition and discuss the benefits and risks of surgery. Our expert heart and lung surgeons perform several hundred surgeries every year, providing effective care to get you back to living your best life.
Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
This treatment is also simply called bypass surgery. During this surgery, a bypass is created by grafting pieces of arteries or veins above or below the blocked part of a coronary artery to let blood flow around the blockage. Veins are often taken from the leg. Arteries are taken from the chest or arm. Sometimes you may need several bypasses to fully restore blood flow to all parts of the heart.
Aortic Valve Surgery
Aortic valve repair and replacement may be done through traditional open heart surgery, which involves an incision in the chest or through the less invasive approach by using a catheter to implant a new valve within your diseased valve.
Mitral Valve Surgery
Mitral valve repair and replacement may be done through traditional open heart surgery, which involves an incision in the chest. Less invasive options for repair may also be available.
Aortic Aneurysm Surgery
Aortic Aneurysm surgery is a procedure to repair a weakened and/or bulging area of the aorta, which is the main blood vessel that carries blood.
EVAR/TEVAR
EndoVascular Repair of Aortic Aneurysm (EVAR) is a minimally invasive procedure to treat thoracic aneurysms by placing a covered stent into the weakened artery. When used to treat thoracic aortic disease, the procedure is then specifically referred to as Thoracic EndoVascular Repair of Aorta (TEVAR).
Interventional Cardiology
Interventional cardiology treatments are invasive, non-surgical treatment options that use catheter based procedures to repair damaged or weakened blood vessels, arteries or other structural parts of the heart.
Cardiac Catheterization
A cardiac catheterization is a procedure to diagnose and treat certain types of heart conditions. During the procedure, your doctor will inject dye into your blood vessels and use x-ray to visualize the valves, arteries and heart chambers.
TAVR
A less-invasive alternative to open heart surgery, TAVR uses a catheter to implant a new valve within your diseased aortic valve while your heart is still beating.
Stenting
Usually performed in conjunction with angioplasty, a cardiac stent is a small metal or plastic coil that permanently holds a clogged vein open, improving blood flow.
Mitraclip
Mitraclip is a less invasive alternative to open heart surgery aimed at fixing mitral regurgitation by inserting a small clip on your existing mitral valve, which allows it to close more completely.
Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Used to relieve symptoms of heart disease or reduce heart damage following a heart attack, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty, helps to open narrowed or blocked coronary arteries and improve blood flow to the heart.
Watchman
Watchman is a minimally invasive procedure for people with atrial fibrillation who cannot tolerate anti-coagulation therapy.
Electrophysiology & Arrhythmia
Known as the study of electrical activity in the heart, electrophysiology evaluates and treats heart rhythm disorders also known as arrhythmia.
Cardiac Device Clinic
The ThedaCare cardiac device clinic provides care for cardiovascular patients who have implanted pacemakers, defibrillators and loop recorders. Patients are typically seen two weeks after their device is implanted to assess how patients are feeling and answer any questions. Device clinic patients require regular ongoing check ups to ensure proper device function and optimization. Home monitoring also helps ThedaCare oversee the patient’s progress with their newly implanted device.
In addition to the Appleton clinic location, ThedaCare offers device clinic hours in Shawano, New London and Berlin.
EP Study
An Electro Physiology (EP) study is a test to help assess your heart’s electoral system and diagnose cardiac arrhythmias.
Pacemaker/ICD
A pacemaker/ICD is a small device that is inserted to help control abnormal heart rhythms using electrical pulses.
Cardioversion
A cardioversion is a medical procedure to restore normal heart rhythm in people with certain cardiac arrhythmias.
Ablation Procedures
Performed in a ThedaCare Cath Lab, cardiac ablation is a low-risk procedure to scar or destroy areas of the heart that are contributing to abnormal electrical signals, causing irregular heart rhythms.
Medication Management
Heart medications, along with lifestyle changes, offer important protection if you have a heart condition or are high risk for developing heart disease. There can be many variations and combinations of drugs prescribed to address your individual condition. Your cardiologist, along with your primary care provider, will decide on the best course of action for your medication treatment plan.
Blood Pressure Medication Management
Your health care provider may also prescribe medicine to help lower your blood pressure. The medicine will help reduce the strain on your heart and help to protect your blood vessels. If you lose weight, you may be able to take less medicine. Or you may no longer need to take it.
Cholesterol Medication Management
There are several medicines to help control the amount of cholesterol in the blood. Each controls cholesterol in a different way. They also have different effects in terms of how well they work to lower cholesterol and reduce death rates. Discuss these effects with your health care provider. Your health care provider will prescribe the type of medicine that is best for you. Medicines may be used alone or combined. The main types are:
- Statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors). Statins are thought to be the best at lowering cholesterol. They do this by keeping your body from making cholesterol. This then prompts the liver to remove cholesterol from your blood thereby lowering LDL cholesterol and reabsorbing cholesterol from plaque build ups. Benefits: Statins lower LDL cholesterol. They also slightly raise HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides.
- Selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors. These prevent your body from absorbing cholesterol from food. They may be prescribed to use alone or with a statin. Benefits: These medicines lower LDL cholesterol. They also slightly raise HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides.
- Resins (bile acid sequestrants or bile acid-binding medicines). Resins help you get rid of cholesterol through the intestines. They work by binding to bile. Bile is a substance that helps the body digest food. Your body uses cholesterol to make bile. Normally, most bile is absorbed by the body during digestion. But when bile is bound to resin, it’s eliminated from the body. So the body must make more bile. To do this, the body takes up more cholesterol from the blood. Benefits: Resins lower LDL cholesterol.
- Fibrates (fibric acid derivatives). These are best at cutting back on how many triglycerides your body makes. They do not work well to lower LDL. Benefits: Fibrates lower triglycerides. They also raise HDL cholesterol.
- Niacin (nicotinic acid). Niacin (vitamin B-3) limits the liver’s ability to make blood fats. We do not recommend using over-the-counter niacin for cholesterol problems, as they are not regulated by the FDA. Benefits: Niacin raises HDL cholesterol. It also lowers triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. These reduce the amount of triglycerides your body makes. They also help to clear these lipids from the blood. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in many foods. These include salmon and other oily fish and walnuts. Your health care provider may prescribe these fatty acids in capsule form. Benefits: Omega-3s lower triglycerides. They may increase LDL cholesterol in some patients.
- PCSK9 inhibitors. These medicines lower LDL cholesterol levels by breaking down the chemicals in the liver that make LDL cholesterol. These medicines are given by an injection. They are used for people who have an inherited form of high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolemia) and those who may have a hard time controlling their cholesterol with other medicines.
Lifestyle Management & Nutrition
Lifestyle changes can help lower your blood pressure. These changes can include:
- Losing weight. Even a small amount of weight loss can lower your blood pressure. As you slowly lose weight, you may see your blood pressure slowly get lower.
- Quitting smoking. The nicotine in tobacco raises blood pressure. Smoking also raises the risk for other heart and blood vessel diseases, many cancers and most lung conditions. The first step is to set a quit date. Talk with your health care provider about ways to quit smoking. There are programs and medicines that can help.
- Eating healthy. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Eat fat-free or low-fat dairy foods and drink less alcohol.
- Eating less salt (sodium). Salt can raise blood pressure. Try salt-free seasoning, or herbs and spices. Choose low-salt or no-salt snacks, deli meats, and canned foods.
- Being more physically active. Physical activity can help lower blood pressure. Get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days. If you are not very active, talk with your provider before you get started. He or she can help you figure out what is best for you.
- Managing stress. Stress can raise blood pressure. Talk with your provider about lowering your stress level. He or she may advise relaxation methods, a counselor, health coach or class.
