Interventional Cardiology
Interventional cardiology is the field of medicine that focuses on treating heart and vascular conditions through minimally invasive procedures. These techniques help restore blood flow, repair damaged vessels and relieve symptoms—without the need for open-heart surgery.
At Cone Health, your care begins close to home. Patients are referred by their primary care provider to a Cone Health cardiologist or vascular specialist. After diagnosis, our expert team works with you to create a personalized treatment plan. If advanced interventional care is needed, our specialists will guide you through every step—from your procedure to recovery—with the skill, compassion and experience you deserve.
Advanced and Complex Heart Procedures
Cone Health’s interventional cardiology team performs a wide range of procedures, using state-of-the-art technology and advanced techniques available at only a few centers in North Carolina.
Our expertise includes:
- High-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with mechanical support devices for patients with severe or complex blockages.
- Chronic total occlusion (CTO) PCI, a specialized approach to open long-standing complete blockages that were once considered untreatable.
- Advanced intravascular imaging, including intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), which allow cardiologists to see inside the arteries in remarkable detail for more precise treatment.
- Coronary microvascular and physiologic testing—available at only a handful of hospitals in North Carolina—to better diagnose and treat patients with unexplained chest pain or microvascular dysfunction.
- Comprehensive support for cardiogenic shock patients, with collaborative care between our interventional cardiologists and advanced heart failure specialists to deliver lifesaving mechanical circulatory support.
Our team-based approach brings together interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and imaging specialists in weekly meetings to review complex cases and determine the best treatment plan for each patient. This collaborative model ensures the highest standard of individualized care.
Excellence in Heart Attack Care
Cone Health has a long and proud history in emergency heart care. We helped pioneer angioplasty for heart attack treatment in the 1980s—setting national standards for faster, safer care. Today, our STEMI (heart attack care) program continues that tradition, achieving outstanding quality and survival metrics that place us among the leading heart centers in the nation.
Innovation in Vascular and Structural Heart Therapy
In addition to coronary interventions, our team offers innovative therapies for other cardiovascular conditions:
- Renal denervation for patients with resistant hypertension—Cone Health was the first hospital in North Carolina to offer this breakthrough treatment.
- Drug-coated balloon angioplasty for treating in-stent restenosis (re-narrowing inside stents), including participation in clinical trials to evaluate next-generation devices.
- Atherectomy procedures that use rotational or orbital technology to remove calcified plaque and improve blood flow.
- Intravascular lithotripsy to treat calcified plaque at a lower risk than atherectomy procedures.
Learn more about our structural heart care here.
Research and Education
Many of our interventional cardiologists are actively involved in clinical research to evaluate new devices and treatment strategies. For more information about ongoing studies, patients are encouraged to learn about the LeBauer-Brodie Center for Cardiovascular Research & Education, where Cone Health leads efforts to advance cardiovascular care through innovation and collaboration.
Compassionate, Expert Care
Whether you need a routine stent or the most advanced, life-saving heart procedure, you can trust Cone Health’s interventional cardiology team for exceptional care close to home. Our mission is simple: to deliver leading-edge heart care with local expertise and a commitment to helping every patient live a longer, healthier life.
