As one of the largest cardiovascular practices in the area, Waco Cardiology Associates has experts in different facets of heart health and heart disease. The heart is one of the body’s most complex organs. That’s why we take a team approach to patient care, restoring a patient’s quality of life as quickly and safely possible.
Since our founding in 1971, Waco Cardiology Associates has provided compassionate and cutting-edge care to Central Texans. We are dedicated to the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular disease with an emphasis on improving our patients’ quality of life for the long-term.
Our cardiologists and our team are highly trained heart care professionals who pride themselves on keeping up with state-of-the-art research, technology, and cardiac procedures. We know that cardiovascular health tends to be associated with other concerns. Waco Cardiology’s wealth of knowledge enables us to personalize treatment plans for the optimal health and wellness of all our patients.
Since the beginning of our practice, we remain on the forefront in offering Central Texas the most advanced cardiac care available. Our practice has grown to encompass not only McLennan County, but eight additional counties as well. We are pleased to bring our special brand of cardiovascular care and expertise to patients throughout the region.
Waco Cardiology Associates offers:
- service with humility, grace and gratitude
- compassion for our patients
- a comprehensive cardiac care program offering the latest in preventive, diagnostic, interventional, and rehabilitative services designed to maximize cardiovascular health.
- commitment to exemplary care
- board-certified specialists in a number of cardiovascular fields.
- several convenient clinic locations in surrounding communities.
In addition, we understand that the ongoing management of chronic heart conditions can be challenging. That’s why we are proud to offer a highly trained staff that can walk patients through scheduling procedures and follow-up appointments, getting answers to any questions they may have and navigating the insurance process.
Our testing labs at Waco Cardiology Associates are accredited in Vascular Studies, Nuclear/PET Cardiology & Echocardiography through the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission
CARDIAC IMAGING AND TESTING
Our Echocardiography program, which is ICAEL Accredited, offers:
Echocardiography
Our Nuclear Medicine program, which is ICANL Accredited, offers:
PET/SPECT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging
Treadmill Stress Testing
Our Vascular program, which is ICAVL Accredited, offers:
Peripheral Vascular Studies (PVR/ABI)
Vascular Ultrasounds
GENERAL CARDIOLOGY
Our cardiologists are board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. All of our cardiologists are well qualified to diagnose heart conditions based on symptoms, physical examination findings, as well as the results of diagnostic studies and tests.
Additionally, our cardiologists are also trained to provide a number of different therapies to manage heart disease, ranging from diet and lifestyle recommendations to medication therapy to sophisticated catheter-based interventions.
We work with a patient’s primary care physician to diagnose any heart condition and recommend a treatment regimen. In some situations, minimally invasive therapies such as pacemaker placement, defibrillator placement, or catheter-based balloon and stenting of blood vessels may be necessary.
General Cardiology Management:
- Arrhythmias
- Congestive Heart Failure
- Coronary Artery Disease and Angina
- Heart Attack
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol and other Lipid Disorders
HEART RHYTHM/ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
The heart is a beautifully designed pump that relies on its own electrical system to beat and circulate blood throughout the body. Sometimes there is a problem with the heart’s electrical system – or electrophysiology – resulting in a heart rhythm disorder whereby the heart beats too fast, too slow, or irregularly, which can lead to a number of complications, including stroke and even sudden death.
Harvey R. Chen, M.D. and Timothy N. Ball, M.D., are clinical cardiac electrophysiologists who are specialized in diagnosing and treating heart rhythm disorders and irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias). Dr. Chen and Dr. Ball use a number of advanced technologies and techniques for diagnosis and management. They’re both board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology.
HEART RHYTHM MANAGEMENT
The heart is a beautifully designed pump that relies on its own electrical system to beat and circulate blood throughout the body. Sometimes there is a problem with the heart’s electricla system – electrophysiology – resulting in a heart rhythm disorder whereby the heart beats too fast, too slow, or irregularly, which can lead to a number of complications, including stroke and even sudden death.
Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation is where one or more flexible, thin tubes (catheters) are guided via x-ray through the blood vessels to abnormal heart muscle tissue. Once there, a burst of radiofrequency energy destroys very small areas of the tissue, which give rise to abnormal electrical signals causing rhythm disturbances.
Holter and Event Monitoring
The Holter monitor is an electrocardiographic recording device that utilizes electrodes, which the patient wears for a 24-48 hour period, including during sleep and exercise. The Holter monitor captures the patient’s entire heart rhythm over a 24-48 hour period so that it can be analyzed.
An event monitor is a similar wearable device that the patient takes home for a period of time. Except rather than continuously recording, the patient manually starts on stops the recoding when he or she suddenly begins to experience symptoms of palpitations or heart racing.
Pacemaker Implantation
Pacemakers are miniature devices that can be implanted underneath the skin to monitor and provide control of a patient’s the heart rhythm. Pacemakers are particularly helpful in patients who suffer from heart rhythms which are abnormally slow. Typically, the pacemaker is placed under the skin of the front wall of the heart below the collarbone. Monitoring of the pacemaker is usually done remotely at home with periodic visits to the cardiologist’s office.
ICD Implantation
Implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are 99 percent effective in stopping life-threatening arrhythmias and are the most successful therapy to treat ventricular fibrillation, a major cause of sudden cardiac death. An ICD is implanted under the skin near the heart and constantly monitors a patient’s heart rhythm. If it detects a very fast, abnormal heart rhythm, it delivers energy to the heart muscle causing it to beat in a normal rhythm.
WATCHMAN™ & WATCHMAN™ FLX
The WATCHMAN™ Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device with Delivery System and WATCHMAN™ FLX Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device with Delivery System are permanently implanted devices intended to prevent blood clots in the left atrial appendage (LAA) from entering the bloodstream. The WATCHMAN™ or WATCHMAN™ FLX device is intended to be used in patients who have atrial fibrillation (AFib) not related to heart valve disease. In a clinical study, in 395 out of 400 (96%) patients who had WATCHMAN™ FLX device implanted were able to stop taking their blood-thinning medications after 45 days. In addition, over 92% of patients were able to stop taking blood-thinning medications after one year following the implant procedure.
INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY
Blockages that build-up in the arteries can lead to serious heart problems, including a heart attack. Waco Cardiology Associates offers interventional cardiology services to open blocked arteries using minimally invasive methods known as percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).
Our interventional cardiologists can use PCI on an emergency basis – when a patient is experiencing a heart attack to open a blocked artery and restore blood flow to the heart – or during a scheduled procedure to open blocked arteries before they cause a heart attack.
During PCI, long thin tubes are threaded through the patient’s body and into the coronary arteries using advanced imaging. Through these tubes, a smaller tube carrying a balloon is guided into the coronary arteries, and once at a blockage, the balloon is inflated pressing the obstructing plaque against the walls of the coronary artery.
To keep the artery open, an expandable device called a stent is threaded through the catheter and deployed at the site of the blockage.
Waco Cardiology ASC and Cath Lab
PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE TREATMENT
The arteries of the heart are not the only ones that can become blocked. Any major artery in the body can experience a blockage for any number of reasons. Outside the coronary arteries, the arteries that most frequently experience blockages are to the legs and lower extremities.
Our cardiologists are skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral vascular disease. Using percutaneous interventions similar to interventional cardiology, our team can open blood vessels in other parts of the body.
TRANSCATHER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT (TAVR)
Your heart has four valves that pump blood throughout your body. When a valve, chamber or the wall of the heart is damaged, it is called structure heart disease. Symptoms may include chest pains, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, or fatigue. Some adults are born with a heart defect that worsens with lupus or rheumatic fever. Our structural heart cardiologists monitor risk factors for heart disease, including high cholesterol and blood pressure to help prevent heart valve damage. Hearth and valve problems can cause heart attack or progressive heart failure. Instead of open heart surgery to repair the damage, our structural heart cardiologists can place a new aortic valve into the heart via a catheter by utilizing a Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure. Benefits of transcatheter aortic valve replacement. (TAVR): may help shorten your recovery time; may help lower your risk of infection; and, minimalize invasive treatment.
VEIN PROGRAM
At Waco Cardiology Associates, our top priority is to keep you healthy. Our experienced and dedicated team of experts treats all aspects of cardiovascular disease including venous disease, peripheral vascular disease and cardiovascular disease. No other medical practice in Waco possesses the experience and cutting edge technology to properly diagnose and care for patients with vascular health concerns.
Venous disease generally originates in your legs in the form of varicose veins or leg cramping and leg swelling. Many people attribute the cause of varicose veins to heredity or to their line of work. Both can be right. Sometimes venous disease can be familial while, oftentimes, people who stand up all day—doctors, restaurant workers, teachers and barbers—develop varicose veins over the course of their lives. At WCA, we understand that these concerns are more than merely cosmetic.
