What is Silver Hawk Plaque Excision?
Plaque excision is a minimally invasive procedure that cleans out your clogged arteries by completely removing the plaque.

How is it performed?
The Silver Hawk Plaque Excision System is normally performed through a tiny puncture site in the leg or arm. A local anesthetic is injected into the skin to numb the area. While the patient is awake, the physician uses a tiny rotating blade and shaves away large quantities of plaque from inside the artery. As it is removed, the plaque collects in the tip of the device and then is removed from the patient.

Generally, the patient feels very little during the procedure, except for a small amount of pressure. The procedure is performed in a specially equipped x-ray room called a catherization lab or in an operating room.

Spy system

The SPY Intra-Operative Imaging System allows surgeons to…

• confirm the proper placements of a by-pass graft
• visually assess the quality and placement of the graft
• offer a higher level of patient safety
• better guarantee graft success

The SPY Intra-operative Imaging System is the new, innovative technology that helps our heart surgeons confirm successful by-pass surgeries. With the use of SPY technology, a patient undergoing surgery will no longer have to worry about future complications due to surgery.

 Pikeville Medical Center was the first cardiac surgery department in Kentucky with the SPY system; offering the very best to their patients.

Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators

With cardiac arrest causing the deaths of thousands of Americans each year, the cardiothoracic surgeons at Pikeville Medical Center now offer ICDs (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators) to patients who may be at a higher risk for a terminal arrhythmia.