Cardiology Services
On-site Diagnostic Testing by Mission Hospital
The highly active imaging area is a hallmark feature for patients of ACA and Mission Hospital. Patients can receive a wide variety of imaging services through the on-site operations of Mission Hospital, coupled with the convenience of seeing their cardiologists under the same roof. The combined knowledge and skill of both the ACA and Mission Hospital teams - delivered in one convenient location - offer a win-win for our patients.
- Echo
The echocardiography laboratory of Mission Hospital at ACA is certified by a national accrediting agency, the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). Our echo clinical volumes exceed more than 15,000 studies each year. At the ACA headquarters, Mission Hospital also performs 3-D echo and 3-D transesophageal echocardiogram (an echo via the esophagus), which allows for better evaluation of complex valvular pathology. More than 3,000 stress echo examinations are performed annually. Using our modality has the advantage of no radiation exposure and quick examination times. - Nuclear
Each year, on average, Mission Hospital's nuclear medicine laboratory at ACA conducts more than 4,000 examinations to evaluate for ischemia (blockages in the arteries), viability (is the heart muscle alive?) and heart-pumping function. This modality is ideal for patients who are unable to exercise on a treadmill because of problems in their joints, muscles or lungs. - MRI
This sophisticated technique, performed at Mission Hospital, allows for the evaluation of scarring in the heart muscle. It is also helpful in the management of congenital heart disease and complex valvular disease. - Coronary CTA (Cardiac CT) is also performed at Mission Hospital. This technique uses X-rays to non-invasively image the heart arteries in less than five minutes.
Vascular Medicine and Interventions
Asheville Cardiology is a full-service cardiovascular practice that also provides diagnosis and treatment for vascular disease outside of the heart. Among our achievements: ACA was the second-leading center in the pivotal National Institute of Health-sponsored CORAL study of renal artery stenting.
Mission Hospital's comprehensive non-invasive imaging, available on-site at ACA, includes:
- Ankle brachial Index
- Carotid Doppler
- Abdominal vascular ultrasound
William Abernethy, MD, FACC, and Jan Pattanayak, MD, perform vascular interventions, including atherectomy and stenting, at Mission Hospital's advanced vascular suite.
Interventional Cardiology
The interventional division at Asheville Cardiology consists of five physicians:
- William Maddox, MD, FACC
- David Serfas, MD, FACC
- William Kuehl, MD, FACC
- William Abernethy, MD, FACC
- Jan Pattanayak, MD
These specialists open the blood vessels of the heart using balloons and stents. By concentrating the interventions to only five physicians, it allows each doctor to maintain high volumes of more than 300 cases per year.
The ACA interventional division also performs complex interventions in patients who are not good candidates for coronary artery bypass grafting. In addition, we provide around-the-clock primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) services to the entire 20-county Western North Carolina region with a door-to-balloon time faster than the national target of 90 minutes.
Our strong structural heart program performs atrial septal defect (ASD) procedures, patient foramen ovale (PFO) closures and aortic valvuloplasty.
The Mission Hospital cardiac catheterization laboratory at ACA has a full complement of accessory modalities including:
- Rotational athrectomy
- Intravascular ultrasound
- Angiojet
- Trans-radial interventions
- Hemodynamic support devices (both intra-aortic balloon pump and Impella®)
Together, these specialty services place Asheville Cardiology in a better position to participate in the exciting new frontier of percutaneous aortic and mitral valve repair.
Electrophysiology (EP)
The EP division consists of three cardiologists who have each completed two additional years of training in managing the electrical system of the heart.
- Joseph Souza, MD, FACC
- Robert Hanich, MD, FACC
- Mathew Smelley, MD
Drs. Souza, Hanich and Smelley implant devices such as pacemakers and implantable fibrillators. They also implant bi-ventricular pacemakers that allow many heart failure patients a much better quality of life. These physicians also perform ablation procedures that involve burning abnormally functioning heart tissue with a catheter.
For more than a decade, Asheville Cardiology physicians have conducted procedures to cure even difficult arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, making ACA one of the region's prime cardiology sites.
