LITTLE COMPANY PERFORMS THE COUNTRY'S FIRST ELECTIVE ANGIOPLASTY UNDER PROTOCOLS FROM JOHNS HOPKINS

Little Company News

Father William Kenneally's health, according to some, could have used a little divine intervention. The 70-year-old Pastor of St. Gertrude's Parish in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood was a cancer survivor and had been under the care of a cardiologist for several years. Though he had received extensive cardiac care, the blockage in Kenneally's arteries continued to worsen. That is when he turned to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers cardiologist, Daniel A. Rowan, D.O., Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab.

'Father Kenneally's condition had progressed to a 70 percent blockage,' said Rowan. 'While it had not yet reached an emergency level, it was still a major concern.'

Since 2000, Little Company has participated in Johns Hopkins' Atlantic Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Research Team (C-PORT) registry under the direction of Rowan. C-PORT is a nationwide study of more than 16,000 patients to see if potentially life-saving angioplasties can be safely performed in smaller, community hospitals, easing access to the therapy for patients. Before this study, patients had to be transferred to other hospitals with on-site, specialized heart surgery capabilities. This trial allowed facilities without on-site cardiac surgery services to perform emergency angioplasties. An additional trial would allow these same facilities, as well as several others, to perform angioplasties on an elective basis and was scheduled to start soon after Kenneally's meeting with Rowan.

'Dr. Rowan advised me that this procedure was a good option for me,' said Kenneally. 'The idea of being a part of a major project like this really appealed to me.'

'C-PORT is a very important study that I am proud my team and I can be a part of,' said Rowan. 'I'm glad to see smaller, community hospitals are being given opportunities to cross boundaries and provide tertiary services locally.'

On April 24, Kenneally became the first person in the country to receive elective angioplasty under the protocols of C-PORT. The procedure was a resounding success that allowed Kenneally to return to his responsibilities at the church only a few days later. Today, Kenneally could not be more pleased with the results.

'I feel very, very good,' said Kenneally. 'I am so grateful to Dr. Rowan and his team. They are my heroes.'

Little Company's cardiology department provides various diagnostic cardiac testing and many procedures, including cardiac catheterization using digital imaging, all types of stress testing and other tests routinely available at major medical centers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and biventricular pacemakers. For more information about these services or the C-PORT registry, contact the cardiology department at 708.229.5640.