OCTOBER 1, 2003 VOLUME 15, NO. 1
	HEARTLINE HELENA CARDIOLOGY CLINIC 32 MEDICAL PARK DR., HELENA, MT 59601 www.helenacardiology.com (406) 449-7943

Articles

20 Years of Existence

From Then to Now

Coronary Angioplasty/Stenting

Helena Cardiology Clinic Accomplishments

Talks

Changes in Frequency for Lipid Testing

Helena’s 1^st Heart Walk

20 Years of Existence!

On August 1, 1983, Dr. Paustian started the Helena Cardiology Clinic along with his one employee who served as his Office Manager. At that time, The Clinic was located at the corner of 6th and Jackson in downtown Helena and was in a location shared with two internist.

In 1985, The Clinic had outgrown its original location and moved to its current location. The number of patients kept increasing as did the number of staff members and procedures to accommodate the needs of the patients.

The Clinic today has 3 full-time front office employees, 1 part-time front office employee, 3 registered nurses, 1 registered cardiovascular technician and one part-time environmental engineer in addition to Dr. Paustian himself.

The Clinic wishes to thank the People of Helena for their support in addition to the Helena medical community for the opportunity to work here for 20 years (and hopefully many more!).

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

From Then to Now

When Dr. Paustian started practice in 1983 there was no cath lab at St. Peter’s Hospital. He would go to Great Falls where he had privileges at Columbus Hospital to perform heart catheterizations and emergency coronary angioplasties. In February 1986, the heart cath lab was put in place at St. Peter’s Hospital and medical services for the community of the Helena area reached another milestone. Since that time Dr. Paustian has performed almost 5,000 heart catheterizations at St. Peter’s Hospital. In 1998 Dr. Paustian started performing heart catheterizations at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center and in 2002 he started doing coronary stent procedures both facilities.

Coronary Angioplasty/Stenting

You may be asking what exactly is coronary angioplasty and stenting? A coronary balloon angioplasty and stent deployment is a nonsurgical way to open or widen the narrowing in an artery that interferes with blood flow to the heart muscle. Angioplasty is a relatively simple procedure that does not require general anesthesia. Many patients stay in the hospital overnight and resume their normal activities in a day or two. Even in a successful angioplasty, the artery may renarrow within the first few months. To help prevent the narrowing, your doctor may insert a stent following your angioplasty. A stent is a small metal coil or mesh tube that is placed into your artery with a balloon catheter. The stent stays in place permanently, holding open the walls of the coronary artery and improving blood flow. New tissue slowly grows over the stent securing it permanently inside the coronary artery. Dr. Paustian does these procedures in the cath labs at St. Peter’s Hospital and the Fort Harrison Medical Center with well trained teams under his supervision. If you have questions about this procedure, visit our web site for further information.

Helena Cardiology Clinic Accomplishments

1983 August 1^st The Helena Cardiology Clinic was established.

1983 Dr. Paustian passed his Cardiology Boards.

1984 The first programmable DDD pacemaker implant was done in Helena.

1985 Dr. Paustian was elected to Fellowship of the American College of Cardiology.

1985 In July the first formal cardiac rehabilitation facility of Helena was opened.

1986 February 4^th was the opening of the cardiac cath lab at St. Peter’s Hospital.

1986 The first emergency angioplasties in Helena were done.

1989 The first stress echo was done.

1991-1994 Dr. Paustian was the ACC Governor for the State of Montana.

1992 The first office based transesophageal echocardiogram was done.

1993 The first dobutamine stress echo was done at The Clinic.

1993-1996 Dr. Paustian was the Medical Director of Montana Medicare Part B.

1995 Dr. Paustian was elected to Fellowship of the American College of Physicians.

1998 The cardiac cath lab was opened at the Fort Harrison Medical Center

2002 Dr. Paustian was elected to Fellowship of Society of Cardiac Angiographers and Interventions.

2002 The first biventricular pacemaker implant for congestive heart failure was done.

2002 The first office based cardioversion was done.

2002 November 4^th the first coronary stent procedure was done in Helena.

2002 Dr. Paustian was elected to Fellowship of the American Society of Echocardiography.

2003 August 1^st The Helena Cardiology Clinic celebrated 20 years of business!!

Talks

Dr. Paustian has multiple talks coming up this fall as usual. He will be speaking to the Montana Nurses Association in October on "The Current Management of Congestive Heart Failure, 2003."

He will be speaking to the Mended Hearts group in Helena in February 2004 on a topic to be determined.

He is speaking in February also at St. Peter's Hospital to the medical staff and is scheduled to speak in Billings as well on  topics to be determined.

Talks were held in the summer of 2003 at Fairmont Hot Springs to the Montana Academy of Family Physicians as well as a talk to the medical staff in Livingston, Montana.

Change in Frequency for Lipid Testing

Per Medicare’s guideline changes from November 25, 2002, a Medicare patient is eligible to have the lipid profile and liver enzymes checked once a year AFTER these levels have fallen into the goal values established by the National Cholesterol Education Program. This may be a surprise to you if you have had your lipids and liver enzymes checked regularly every six months. Once we have documented that your lipids and liver enzymes have stabilized within this normal range, it is only necessary to check these values once a year. If your lipids have NOT reached the goals established by the National Cholesterol Education Program, or if your physician is making adjustments in your lipid–lowering medications your lipids and liver enzymes or your LDL cholesterol alone may be drawn more frequently.

Helena’s 1^st Heart Walk

A BIG THANKS goes out to all of you who supported the 1^st Helena Heart Walk put on by the American Heart Association. It was a beautiful day for a 2.5 mile walk. Pledges and donations were gathered from the walkers who took in a grand total of $26,570 in Helena. Way to go walkers!!! We look forward to next year and hope more of you can join us in supporting such a great cause.