MetroHealth has very low complication rates for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and has a balanced approach when considering PCI in nonemergent cases.

"We do PCIs appropriately: We put the patient first, and we don't have financial incentive to do or disincentives if we don't do a procedure,'' explained Sanjay Gandhi, MD, Director of the Endovascular Cardiology Program in the MetroHealth Heart & Vascular Center.

And we have a breadth of experience to determine the appropriate treatment.'' MetroHealth has good quality ratings for PCI, exceeding national benchmarks in key areas "and our complication rates are low,'' said Dr. Gandhi.

In the past year, 100 percent of PCI procedures done at MetroHealth without acute coronary syndrome were deemed appropriate, according to the fourth quarter Institutional Outcomes Report from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry's CathPCI registry. U.S. hospitals in the 90th percentile only rate at 74.2 percent.

"There's a very broad range of criteria which goes into selecting a patient for cardiac catheterization, and we're very careful about this,'' said Dr. Gandhi.

Fractional flow reserve, or FFR, is used frequently at MetroHealth to determine if stenting is appropriate. FFR is a guidewire procedure which measures blood pressure and flow at specific areas of the coronary artery and helps determine which lesions need stenting.

"This helps us determine if medication might work for a patient without a stent,'' both improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs, explained Dr. Gandhi.

Endovascular cardiologists at MetroHealth have years of experience in this cardiovascular specialty. Our team includes:

• Sanjay Gandhi, MD
• Christopher McCoy, MD
• Dilip Pillai, MD