Describe your city or general regional area. How does it differ from the rest of the U.S.?

Situated in sunny South Florida, Holy Cross Hospital serves a broad range of patients. Our patient volume has a distinct seasonal ebb and flow, with patients from the northeast corridor of the United States and Canada affectionately referred to as “snowbirds.”  We care for many local area residents and are now starting to see patients from Puerto Rico, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Please tell our readers what you consider unique or innovative about your EP lab and staff.

Cross-trained staff with skill sets in both interventional cardiology and electrophysiology provide for stronger, more well-rounded employees.

Oftentimes the electrophysiologists will find themselves relying on innovative and creative solutions in the arena of device implantation techniques with scrub technicians who have knowledge in interventional cardiology. For the well-versed scrub technician, the knowledge and experience they have with various angioplasty wires is useful in the arena of left ventricular lead delivery.

When was the EP lab started at your institution? What types of procedures are performed at your facility? Approximately how many are performed each year?

The EP laboratory was started in the early 1990s under the supervision of Dr. Richard Luceri. Today, we perform approximately 400 device-related implants annually and approximately 200 ablation procedures annually. Lead extractions are performed in our cardiothoracic surgery suites by our cardiothoracic surgeons.  

What is the primary goal of your program?

We are a full-service electrophysiology laboratory, providing comprehensive ablation services for patients suffering from supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, typical and atypical atrial flutter, or ventricular tachycardia. We utilize both radiofrequency ablation equipment and cryocatheters. We are investigating utilizing cryoballoon technology in our laboratory. We perform all standard device implantations such as pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators, biventricular defibrillators, loop monitors and device extractions. We are proud of the fact that our device extractions are performed in an operating room environment by well-trained cardiothoracic surgeons who have mastered the art of extraction and are well trained to handle any potential complications. We are currently building infrastructure that will allow us to perform Impella-supported (ABIOMED, Danvers, MA) ventricular tachycardia ablations, as well as hybrid atrial fibrillation ablations. We have also continued the tradition of being involved in community-based research protocols in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston.

What new equipment, devices and/or products have been introduced in your lab lately?