Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute interventional cardiologists lean into multidisciplinary approaches, minimally invasive procedures and technology to ensure patients receive next-level care. We offer multidisciplinary care across a full vascular service line that encompasses cardiac catheterizations; coronary angiography; critical limb ischemia and limb salvage treatment; pulmonary embolism treatment; and deep vein thrombosis treatment.

Our team efficiently processes referrals in Matthews, seeing a mixture of general cardiology problems, as well as patients who need left heart catheterizations for angina or chest pain, or for newly diagnosed heart failure to rule out coronary disease as an etiology.

Patient referrals are expedited as needed.

While Novant Health physicians care for a variety of patients with any kind of cardiac symptom or need for cardiac prevention, they expedite patients with concerning chest pain or shortness of breath symptoms who may need to have a cardiac procedure or to have coronary artery disease ruled out or evaluated.

Our interventional cardiologists stay up to date with newer techniques and devices.

For coronary artery disease, there are newer techniques including drills, lasers and lithotripsy balloons to help modify severely thickened or calcified arteries. The field of coronary percutaneous interventions with stents has also greatly advanced over the years, with equipment getting much smaller and overall more effective.

Additionally, thrombectomy devices and thrombolytic therapies are implemented by the team to treat deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

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Bhalaghuru Chokkalingam Mani, MD

“For example, if we have someone with a massive amount of deep vein thrombosis and their entire leg is swollen, clot-busting medicine in addition to clot-removal devices can be used by way of catheters to clean that out,” said Bhalaghuru Chokkalingam Mani, MD, interventional cardiologist at Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute - Matthews.

Innovative nonsurgical options improve recovery.

The Matthews team is trained to use the Impella device via catheterization to temporarily restore blood flow to organs while a patient receives care. The Impella is used in both emergent settings and elective settings.

“Impella can be a literally life-saving intervention when there is severe damage to the heart such as by a severe heart attack,” said Gabriel Delgado, MD, interventional cardiologist at Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute - Matthews. “Fortunately, it is not something that is done for most cases but rather as a continuum of escalation of care for select, very ill patients.”

“When the heart cannot pump normally and is badly impaired from a massive cardiac event, requiring medications to keep up their blood pressure, patients are said to be in cardiogenic shock,” Dr. Mani said. “During this time, a support device can help improve the efficiency of the heart’s pumping capacity and reduce the demand on the heart to allow the heart to recover while we’re fixing the arteries. In patients like that, after we fix the arteries, it may take two to three days before the heart gets out of that stunned phase. So the Impella stays inserted while the heart recovers and then can be removed when it is no longer necessary.”

The Impella can also be used in nonemergent settings, helping support blood flow while physicians address severe heart artery blockages

“We work closely with the same goal in mind, to provide state-of-the-art, personalized care for cardiovascular conditions.”

— Gabriel Delgado, MD

Interventional cardiologist at Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute

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Gabriel Delgado, MD

Nonsurgical options often intersect with multidisciplinary care.

“Opening of severe heart blockages is done nowadays mostly by nonsurgical options,” Dr. Delgado said. “A more conservative approach with optimization of medicines is sometimes the best option. In that regard, we work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary manner involving interventional and general cardiologists, heart surgeons, imaging specialists, the patient and family to find the best possible way to address the problem.”

Overall, nuclear cardiology, cardiac imaging and interventional cardiology work together to deliver the necessary, comprehensive multidisciplinary care.

“We work closely with the same goal in mind, to provide state-of-the-art, personalized care for cardiovascular conditions,” Dr. Delgado said. “For example, someone who is experiencing chest pain and in whom blockages in the heart are suspected may undergo a noninvasive workup. That workup may be in the form of a stress test or newer, more accurate technology such as a CT scan, which allows visualization of the arteries of the heart without having to perform an invasive heart catheterization. Then, if a blockage is found, an interventional cardiologist would get involved to open that blockage through angioplasty or stent placement with the advantage of already knowing in detail the issue at hand.”

Interventional cardiologists strive for safety and excellent outcomes.

“With the technology and capabilities, we have at Novant Health,” Dr. Mani said, “we can see incredible change in patients day-to-day. We’re able to provide this incredible, state-of-the-art care with the resources we have.”


To work with interventional cardiologists at Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute, or to refer a patient, please call:

Charlotte area: 704-347-2000

Wilmington area: 910-662-9500

Winston-Salem area: 336-277-2000

Hilton Head area: 833-383-3742

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