Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute

The Heart and Vascular Institute will be hosting its annual Cardiovascular Disease for the Primary Care Physician symposium on Saturday, January 11th. Join us in-person or virtually to hear the latest cardiovascular updates from our team. This interprofessional event will be offering continuing education credits for physicians, advanced practice clinicians, nurses, and other allied health professionals. Registere here: https://lnkd.in/eNC6KJwz #CME #continuingeducation #cardiovasculardisease

Meet Kunal Patel M.D., with our 1250 Cedar Crest and Macungie locations. Dr. Patel starts each office visit with “the goal of having patients leave with some semblance of relief – we will not only address your initial concerns, but we also take a look at the 10- and 20-year outlook and make sure that we are putting you on the right path for long-term cardiovascular care.” Did you know Dr. Patel completed an additional fellowship in advanced cardiac imaging at the Cleveland Clinic and serves as the Director of Non-Invasive Testing for the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest? #meetLVHVI #meettheteam #cardiology #cardiovascularimaging

Healthgrades recognizes two LVHN hospitals among the nation’s best for care. LVH–Cedar Crest and LVH–Muhlenberg are among Healthgrades’ America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care (2025) and America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention (2025) and more. These recognitions mean we meet Healthgrades’ strict quality metrics for clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient experience: https://bit.ly/3DH30Oc Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute

Thank you PBS39, Grover Silcox, and Brittany Sweeney for sharing Joe Ciappetta’s health journey in a recent Living in the Lehigh Valley episode. Joe’s healthcare journey required him to receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) with cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Timothy Misselbeck. This artificial heart pump saved the life of a longtime singer and enabled him to maintain his quality of life. Joe’s story is a testament to our entire team that works tirelessly to care for patients that can benefit from our Mechanical Circulatory Support Program at Lehigh Valley Health Network. #LVAD #cardiothoracicsurgery #patientstory

We’re thrilled to share a milestone from the FLASH™ community! Dr. Chirdeep Patel of Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute successfully completed 360° aorto-ostial stent apposition in the right coronary artery (RCA). Welcome Dr. Patel and team! #FLASH #true360 #ostialdisease #PCI #interventionalcardiology The Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute is part of the Lehigh Valley Health Network FLASH Territory Manager: Nick Lamonica

Healthgrades recognizes two Lehigh Valley Health Network hospitals among the nation’s best for heart care. LVH–Cedar Crest and LVH–Muhlenberg are among Healthgrades’ America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care (2025) and America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention (2025). These recognitions mean we meet Healthgrades strict quality metrics for clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient experience.

Lehigh Valley Health Network is bringing leading-edge AFib care closer to home! 🏥💓 Lehigh Valley Hospital - Pocono now offers FARAPULSE™, an innovative treatment newly introduced at the Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute that uses pulsed electric fields instead of traditional heat or cold to target AFib. This advanced option, available through the region’s only AFib Center of Excellence, protects surrounding tissues while working to reduce risks of stroke, heart failure and more. Our team of expert electrophysiologists, including Simon Gringut, MD, is dedicated to advancing heart care in the Poconos. 🌎✨ Learn more about how FARAPULSE™ is changing lives and what this means for our patients:https://bit.ly/3ONCc1a

Lehigh Valley Health Network is enrolling patients in the EXPAND II Pivotal Trial, the first randomized clinical study evaluating the self-expanding, supra-annular Evolut™ TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) platform in patients with moderate, symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS), a population outside of current guidelines and indications for TAVR. More than two million patients live with moderate AS in the U.S., which represents more than two times the population of patients with severe AS. TAVR is not currently included in the treatment guidelines for moderate AS, however the data from this study may be used to support future regulatory submissions to expand indications for the Evolut TAVR platform. The current recommended management of patients with moderate AS includes periodic monitoring with transthoracic echocardiography every 1-2 years (or with any change in symptoms or findings). “We are pleased to be enrolling patients in the EXPAND II Pivotal Trial as part of our ongoing commitment to providing the most advanced care possible to the thousands of patients in our community living with aortic stenosis,” said Shailendra Singh, MD, Principal Investigator. "Most importantly, we are proud to participate in a clinical trial to study potential benefits of TAVR among a broader patient population." The study will evaluate for the first time the Medtronic Evolut™ FX TAVR System and guideline-directed management and therapy (GDMT) compared to GDMT alone in patients with moderate, symptomatic AS. Currently the research team and Principal Investigator Dr. Shailendra Singh, have enrolled 10 patients in the trial and will continue to enroll through the end of February 2025. The EXPAND II pivotal trial will enroll up to 650 patients at up to 100 sites globally and will include two co-primary endpoints to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Evolut TAVR system with follow up out to ten years. For more information on the study design, visit ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05149755) or Shailendra Singh, MD leading the trial at LVHN.

Please join us in welcoming Drs. Amogh M. Joshi and Lekha Racharla to our elite team of clinicians. Dr. Joshi is a clinical cardiologist with subspeciality interests in cardiovascular imaging, cardio-oncology and cardiometabolic disease. He cares for patients at our Cedar Crest and Macungie locations. Dr. Racharla is an advanced heart failure specialist and is taking care of patients at our Cedar Crest and Muhlenberg locations. Both Dr. Joshi and Dr. Racharla are graduates of our cardiovascular disease fellowship program.

Tim’s miraculous story of survival was made possible by the lifesaving decision he and his wife made to get to the emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon, which enacted the chain of survival involving our Medevac team, Shailendra Singh, MD, MD, teams of colleagues at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, our Patient Blood Management Program, and our Cardiac Rehabilitation- Carbon team. We are thankful for our colleagues across the network that collaborate with the Heart and Vascular Institute to save lives. Thank you to all our local media partners that shared this story to help raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and the importance of the recognition of symptoms and emergent action. Check the comments for stories from local media.   #HeartHealth #PatientStory #HeartAttack #LVHNProud