Each year, St. Mary’s cardiologists perform more than 700 cardiac interventions that treat heart disease and often prevent the need for open-heart surgery. Cardiac intervention helps patients who have had heart attacks or symptoms of heart disease, such as chest pain and shortness of breath.

The procedures are performed in a catheterization lab, where cardiologists insert a catheter into a blood vessel that has become partially blocked by plaque buildup. They then use a balloon to expand the vessel and restore normal blood flow and insert a stent in the vessel to prevent it from getting blocked again.