CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A recent incident at Adena Health System has intensified scrutiny of its cardiology department. A 65-year-old woman died during what should have been a routine heart catheterization, leading to pressing questions about the practices and credentials of the physicians involved. What happened after her time of death is concerning.
I looked up the procedure they were doing, a TVAR, and most institutions require a cardiac or cardiothoracic surgeon to perform the procedure or at least be involved with it. The accused here has a fellowship in interventional cardiology which covers more basic catheter-based procedures like stents; but valve replacement, even trans-catheter ones, are almost always handled by proper CT surgeons.