FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2005
CONTACT: Joyce Brennan
Media Relations Coordinator
Southcoast Health System
Phone: 508-961-5270
Fax: 508-961-5876
Pgr: 508-387-9605
brennanj@southcoast.org
www.southcoast.org/news/releases/
Southcoast Hospitals offers new cardiac bypass technique
“Patients no longer have to walk around with scars that run the entire length of their leg or
from their wrist to their elbow after cardiac surgery.”
 Thomas Carr, MD
Director of Cardiac Surgery
Southcoast Hospitals Group
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Southcoast Hospitals are among the first hospitals in New
England to use a new less-invasive procedure to harvest the radial artery for use during
cardiac bypass surgery, reducing pain and scar size and lowering infection risk in heart
surgery patients.
During cardiac bypass surgery a healthy blood vessel from the arm, leg or chest is
used to reroute blood around the blockage. The new procedure, called endoscopic radial
artery harvesting, only requires one small incision, lessening pain, and lessening the risk of
infection and scarring. Presently offered for the leg, Southcoast now offers the same less
invasive procedure for the arm.
“In the past it was necessary to make a long incision to take a vein from the leg or an
artery from the arm. Patients complained after the surgery about the pain and permanent
scarring, and occasional infection,” said Thomas Carr, MD, Director of Cardiac Surgery for
Southcoast Hospitals Group. “At Charlton we perform endoscopic vein harvesting on the leg
which requires only one small incision instead of a long incision. Recent advances in
technology and advanced training now make it possible to use the same less-invasive
technique on the arm.
-more-
Southcoast Hospitals offers new cardiac bypass technique
Page 2 of 3
December 13, 2005
“Patients no longer have to walk around with scars that run the entire length of their
leg or from their wrist to their elbow after cardiac surgery.”
Cardiac bypass surgery is a procedure called coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
that is used to extract a healthy vessel from another part of the body. The vessel is then used
to “bypass” blockages in the arteries supplying blood to the heart. Some CABG procedures
require more than one bypass, thereby being labeled double, triple or quadruple bypass
surgery.
The procedure typically includes surgically removing, or “harvesting,” a vein or
artery from the leg or arm or chest and is performed by the physician assistant (P.A.) at the
same time as the surgeon is preparing the heart for bypass.
A PA is a licensed health professional that practices medicine under the supervision
of a physician. The PA has similar training to a physician providing approximately 80
percent of the same services. The open heart surgery PA receives additional training in the
operating room and performs pre- and post- operative services.
Kolleen DeAndrade, PA-C, Physician Assistant for Southcoast’s cardiac surgery
program, already performs endoscopic vein harvesting. DeAndrade recently expanded her
training to include the radial artery harvesting system along with Robin Haverly, PA-C.
“Similar to the leg, the procedure uses a special tool to extract the radial artery found
in the forearm through one small one-inch incision instead of a long open incision extending
from the elbow to the wrist,” DeAndrade said. “The harvested artery is then used as a graft
that the surgeon sews in place to bypass the blocked coronary artery on the heart.”
Very few hospitals, including Southcoast, currently perform endoscopic radial artery
harvesting on a regular basis. Ten endoscopic radial artery procedures have been performed
at Charlton Memorial Hospital since August.
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Southcoast Hospitals offers new cardiac bypass technique
Page 3 of 3
December 13, 2005
Southcoast cardiac surgeon Christian Campos, MD, said that only 30 percent of
CABG patients are candidates for a radial artery bypass. The majority of patients have
operations using a vein taken from the leg or an artery from the chest.
“Harvesting of the artery in the arm is not appropriate for everybody,” Dr. Campos
said. “Some patients have radial arteries that are not adequate in caliber or flow or do not
have adequate circulation to the hand allowing removal of the radial artery.”
“The radial artery is an acceptable conduit for younger patients, ages 50 to 70,” said
Dr. Campos, adding that patients who have critical blockages or require multi-vessel bypass
surgery are the best candidates.
“Endoscopic vessel harvesting has revolutionized the post-operative care of cardiac
bypass surgery patients,” Dr. Campos said. “By using the less invasive endoscopic procedure
patients have better outcomes with fewer complications, less pain, and minimal scarring.”
In 2002, Southcoast Hospitals’ became the first of three community hospitals in
Massachusetts to perform open heart surgery, making this lifesaving surgery available for the
first time ever to residents of Southeastern Massachusetts, where the incidence of heart
disease is the highest in the state.
For more information on Southcoast’s cardiac surgery program visit
www.southcoast.org/heart/.
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community
based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of
health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It
includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial
Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts Department
of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and elective coronary angioplasty.
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