Cardiovascular Medicine Patient Care | Department of Internal Medicine | UC Davis Health

Amyloidosis is a condition where proteins in the body misfold into a shape that allows them to form into amyloid fibrils and deposit in organs throughout the body. While the amyloid fibrils build up, the organs may not work as well as before.

This clinic provides evaluations for those with aortic valve stenosis who want to be considered for a minimally invasive valve replacement procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

In order to be considered for TAVR, patients must be ineligible for traditional open heart surgical valve replacement. We were the first hospital in the Sacramento region to perform the procedure in early 2013. In December of 2019, the cardiologists, surgeons, nurses, OR staff and imaging specialists who helped launch and expand the program completed case no. 1,000.

The cardiac electrophysiology service offers comprehensive diagnostic and treatment for patients with cardiac arrhythmias. The complete range of services includes active clinical and research programs, drug therapy programs, radiofrequency ablations, Arctic Front Cryo Catheter System ablations, Stereotaxis magnetic navigation system, internal and external cardioversions, pacemaker and AICD implantation, laser lead extractions and tilt table studies.

The service has two dedicated electrophysiology laboratories supported by three full-time cardiac electrophysiologists, one pediatric electrophysiologist, one physician assistant, five nurses and four technical assistants. Patients and their families receive educational information throughout their care — from hospitalization to outpatient follow-up.

This program helps rehabilitate patients who are recovering from myocardial infarction, heart failure, coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty or cardiac transplantation. The program includes patient education, exercise training, weight reduction and dietary counseling.

This program provides optimal initial management of patients with symptoms of acute, life-threatening cardiac disease, who receive rapid diagnosis and treatment. Patients are stratified according to risk, and immediate diagnostic studies such as early exercise testing and echocardiography are conducted as needed.

Our expert physicians and nurses provide comprehensive care — including evaluation of cardiomyopathies, medical management, remote monitoring, ventricular assist devices, heart transplants and new therapies only available through clinical trials — for heart failure. The program links experts in cardiology, surgery, pharmacy, nursing and social work to provide evidence-based treatment centered on the unique needs of each patient.

Interventional cardiology at UC Davis Health is one of the most distinguished programs of its kind, providing access to cutting-edge innovations, clinical trials, teaching programs and patient care. The program is staffed by eight adult interventional cardiologists. UC Davis has four state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratories, each fully equipped with the most advanced digital imaging systems, including intravascular ultrasound, virtual histology, optical coherence tomography and intracardiac echocardiography. Over 2,500 diagnostic procedures and 600 percutaneous coronary interventions are performed annually.

The program offers a wide array of coronary interventional techniques, including:

• Balloon angioplasty and stent implantation for stable and acute coronary syndromes
• Vein and arterial graft interventions
• Embolic protection
• Rotational atherectomy
• Excimer coronary laser angioplasty
• Intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation
• Percutaneous left ventricular assist devices and coronary flow-pressure measurement

The program is also renowned for expertise in complex chronic total occlusion revascularization using innovative techniques.

The UC Davis Vascular Center provides state-of-the-art vascular care and promotes collaboration among the different specialties involved in that process. Our vascular specialists are dedicated to providing comprehensive and interdisciplinary care to patients with atherosclerosis. This is the process in which fatty materials, cholesterol and other substances, collectively known as plaque, accumulate in the lining of an artery. Among the specialties in the center are vascular surgery, cardiology, interventional radiology and nephrology.

The Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program was developed in response to the lack of awareness and recognition by women and health care providers that heart disease is the leading killer of women. The program has four major areas of focus: patient care, education, research and advocacy. The program's goals are to respond to women's particular cardiovascular health concerns, increase sensitization of both physicians and patients to the risks of heart disease in women, and decrease cardiovascular disease mortality in women.