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CRMC First Hospital in Region to offer new Heart Procedure

CHEYENNE . . . Cheyenne Heart Center at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in the region to offer transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMR).

TMR is a revolutionary new heart treatment involving the use of a CO2 laser to create conduits or bloodlines in the heart muscle.

For patients with coronary artery disease, TMR helps reduce chest pain and improves quality of life. This new heart laser procedure has been approved by the FDA as a safe and effective device for the treatment of patients with chest pain due to advanced cardiovascular disease.

Transmyocardial revascularization is a surgical procedure, and is performed by Cheyenne Heart Center's cardiovascular surgeons -- David Silver, MD, Leonard Lapkin, MD. The surgeon determines the number of laser blood lines needed for each individual patient. The CO2 heart-laser system vaporizes heart tissue in a fraction of a second, creating a blood line through the wall of the heart that is about one millimeter wide (about the width of the head of a pin).

The procedure can be performed through a small opening in the chest while the patient's heart is still beating, and no heart-lung machine is required during TMR surgery. As the blood lines are formed using the CO2 laser, the laser is automatically synchronized to match the patient's heartbeat so the blood lines are created while the patient's heart is at rest. This timed laser pulse helps to prevent damage to other tissue in the heart.

Patients who are candidates for TMR include those for whom coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty, or drug therapy is no longer effective in treating their heart disease. Chest pain symptoms severe enough to wake a patient from sleep may be a good indication for TMR.

Clinical studies indicate that some of the benefits of TMR include relief of chest pain, improved quality of life, improvement in blood flow to the heart, and a reduction in the number of hospital admissions for heart-related problems.

Research has indicated that TMR can provide sustained relief from angina for patients for up to five years.

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