Outcomes.
It really does matter where you go for heart care. St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana is the only hospital to be named Best Heart Care in Indiana five years in a row (2006-2010) by HealthGrades, an independent national healthcare ratings company. That ranks us among the very best in the United States. Period.
St.Vincent firsts.
Being the first in the state — in some cases, the U.S. — to perform a new procedure says a lot about the skill of the physicians who work at your hospital. Over the years, we've been home to numerous firsts performed by physicians of The Care Group and surgeons of CorVasc, MDs.
Milestones include:
| 1952: | St.Vincent opens its first heart clinic |
| 1963: | St.Vincent opens Indianapolis's first coronary care unit |
| 1973: | First open heart surgery at St.Vincent |
| 1987: | First heart transplant at St.Vincent |
| Nation's first laser-assisted thermal coronary angioplasty | |
| 1995: | Abdominal aortic aneurysm endograft |
| Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) | |
| 1996: | Videoscopic saphenous vein removal |
| Transmyocardial laser revascularization | |
| Ventricular reduction | |
| 1997: | Multi-vessel off pump coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) |
| 1998: | Research to use radiation to reduce or eliminate restenosis in stented patients |
| Extensive study of ReoPro with stenting | |
| 1999: | Clinical trials using distal protection devices in conjunction with angioplasty of saphenous vein grafts |
| Clinical trials involving gene therapy in patients with severe peripheral artery occlusive disease and patients with stable angina | |
| 2000: | Cryoplasty to inhibit restenosis in patients who receive PCI with stent |
| 2001: | Percutaneous transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) |
| Video-assisted thoroscopic lobectomy | |
| Video-assisted thoroscopic thymectomy | |
| Placing of drug-eluting stents | |
| 2002: | Robotic-assisted excision of mediastinal mass |
| Carotid artery stenting—first national clinical trial | |
| Intracoronary radiation therapy for stent restenosis | |
| Systemic cooling for acute MI | |
| Aqueous oxygen in AMI patients during PTCA/stent intervention | |
| 2003: | MRI Adenosine stress test |
| 2004: | Minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgeries: |
| Mitral valve repair and replacement | |
| Repair of internal cardiac defibrillator | |
| Esophageal Thymectomy for myasthenia gravis | |
| Cool laser revascularization for peripheral artery therapy | |
| PolarCath system for treatment of critical limb ischemia | |
| 2005: | Thoracic aortic aneurysm endograft |
| Heart Mate II™ ventricular assist device | |
| Drug-eluting stent superficial femoral artery | |
| Stereotaxis magnetic navigation system for biventricular defibrillator implantation | |
| 2006: | First in U.S. to perform a pediatric Stereotaxis magnetic navigation procedure |
| Delivery of a mitral clip through a stent for mitral valve repair | |
| 2007: | VentrAssist™ left ventricular assist device |