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| What's New at CorVasc |
Dr. Salerno in the News
 A clinical trial is now underway that could impact the demand for heart transplants. Matching organs is complex, especially when it comes to the heart. Patients sit on waiting lists and can suffer damage to other organs and even die waiting for a match. The push is on for an alternative.
It's been a rough year for 56-year-old Wendy Wright of Greencastle, who learned her heart was failing earlier this year.
"There was no virus, no blockage, no nothing," said Wright.
It was congestive heart failure. "Wendy was waiting months and didn't have a reasonable offer for a heart transplant," said Dr. Christopher Salerno, Corvasc Cardiothoracic surgeon.
To buy time, Dr. Salerno enrolled Wendy in a clinical trial, and last Monday in surgery implanted of a new left ventricle assist device or VAD, called VentraAssist. It helps Wendy's weak heart pump.
 "We finally have a device that is not only a bridge to transplant but in a lot of cases an alternative to transplant. This is the first kind of pump that I think people would be willing to accept as an end stage therapy," said Dr. Salerno.
The battery life is eight hours before a recharge. "This is
less than six pounds. I can bet you a lot more of ladies'
purses weight a lot more than that," said Dr. Salerno.
It's a substantial change from the luggage size packs of
earlier generations and may ultimately reduce demand for
donor organs.
 "It's really changed the approach in the field. I think you
are going to see people move quicker to these pumps because
they are easy to put in and the upside results are going to
be excellent," said Dr. Salerno.
"Since I've had this, my God, I feel like I could skip down
the halls. I haven't skipped in a long time," said Wendy,
who says she's grateful to be alive.
The FDA will look at how Wendy and other patients in the
trial do on the VentrAssist device during the approval
process. For more information about the trial, call
1-800-634-3278.
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CorVasc Cardiothoracic Surgeon Starts at Lafayette Feb. 5, 2007
CorVasc MD's is pleased to announce that Srinivas "Bob" Kolla joined our practice
of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery and vascular interventional radiology in
January 2007. Dr. Kolla specializes in all aspects of cardiothoracic surgery. He
has special interests in atrial fibrillation, mitral valve repair, and lung surgery. Dr.
Kolla's primary service location is at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette,
Indiana.
Bob attended Stanford University School of Medicine following his graduation
from Rice University in Houston, Texas where he earned a Bachelor of Science in
chemical engineering Summa Cum Laude. He then completed fellowships in
Surgical Critical Care and Extracorporeal Life Support followed by General and
Thoracic Surgery Residencies at University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor.
Dr. Kolla is board certified by the American Board of Surgery including Surgical
Critical Care and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Kolla has been the Attending Surgeon for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh and St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh since 2001 in
addition to Washington Hospital in Washington, Pennsylvania since 2004.
CorVasc takes great pleasure in welcoming Bob, his wife, Sangeetha, and their
two children as they transition from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Lafayette,
Indiana.
Interventional News speaks to Dr. Katharine Krol, newly-elected President of the Society for Interventional Radiology (SIR), about her love of the specialty, her plans as President and her plans for the future...
 How old were you when you first decided you wanted a career in medicine?
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to become a doctor. I guess it was before I was ten years old. I grew up on a farm. My dad was a farmer and I went to a little country school with no guidance counseling. No one else went on to school! I loved science and I wanted to help people, so I decided on medicine.
After obtaining your degree in medicine why did you opt to enter interventional radiology?
Well, it’s an interesting story. I was dead set on going into family practice, or Ob/Gyn. But then I met this guy who said that he would not marry me unless I went into radiology. I thought, “Forget this guy”, as I didn’t think I would like radiology at all. Anyway, I did take a rotation in radiology and found that I loved it and I have loved it ever since. According to the guy I was dating I took a wrong turn – he thought I should work ten until 2 and then eat bon-bons and get paid a lot of money! (He thought I should do general radiology). But, I decided I really liked the contact with patients and I really liked doing the procedures. IR was brand new. Gruntzig did the first PTA while I was a resident. I caught the excitement of rapid developments and huge changes in patient care, and have never lost that excitement! I’ve been really lucky in my career and I have loved being part of the field of IR.
Read the full article
CorVasc MD’s, P.C. Welcomes
Christoper T. Salerno, M.D.
CorVasc MD’s
is pleased to announce that Christopher T. Salerno, M.D. will join
our practice of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery and vascular
interventional radiology in August, 2006. Dr. Salerno specializes in
all aspects of cardiothoracic surgery. He has special interests in
cardiopulmonary transplantation, mechanical assist devices and
aortic surgery. Dr. Salerno’s primary service locations
will be at St.Vincent and the St. Vincent Heart Center in Indianapolis. His office will be in the CorVasc Building on Harcourt Road.
Chris attended Rush Medical College in Chicago following his
graduation from Marquette University in Milwaukee where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering. He then completed a general surgery internship, surgical infectious disease fellowship, and a general surgery residency at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis followed by a cardiothoracic surgery
and cardiopulmonary transplantation residency at Stanford
University. Dr. Salerno is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Salerno has served as Surgical Director of the Heart Transplant
and Mechanical Assist Device Program and has been an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle since 2003. He worked for Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. as a biomedical engineer 1987-88.
CorVasc takes great pleasure in welcoming Chris, his wife, Lauren,
and their two children to Indianapolis as they transition from the west coast.
Microwave Ablation Used to Treat Atrial Fibrillation
Dr. Peter Walts, Corvasc MD's cardiothoracic surgeon, has a special interest in electrophysiology. Dr. Scott Hanan also performs this procedure. | 
Ablation probe positioned around pulmonary veins for cardiac tissue ablation. | 
Lesion created after cardiac tissue ablation. | | The advantages of the surgery include reduced length of hospital stay averaging 1.5 days, less post-operative discomfort due to small incisions and sternal-sparring technique and quicker recovery time for the patient. In addition, microwave ablation eliminates the need for the patient to take medication to control heart rhythm. |  | For more information, please contact Dr. Peter Walts or Dr. Scott Hanan at info@corvascmds.com.
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