Heart and Vascular Services

A Life-Saving Addition to our Hospital

When the Steve and Krista Howard Heart and Vascular Center opened, South Florida Baptist answered our community's need for better heart care in Plant City. Our heart and vascular center is the first of its kind in our area - offering state-of-the-art diagnostic services, including diagnostic heart catheterization and interventional heart and vascular procedures.

Staffed by expert physicians and highly trained technologists, the Center was specially built for the cardiac patient with specialized recovery rooms, top-notch cardiovascular technology and dedicated waiting areas for the patients' loved ones. The Center also provides an array of diagnostic and therapeutic services for the treatment of vascular disease, such as peripheral artery disease.

Want to know if you're at risk for heart disease? Learn more about our screening packages. And be sure to check out the American Heart Association's website for more information about heart health, diseases and treatment.

Cardiac Diagnostic Tests

• Ankle-Brachial Index to help indicate a narrowing of arteries in your legs
• Cardiac CT Angiogram which uses a special dye and x-rays to see how blood flows through your heart
• Cardiac Nuclear Imaging stress test accurately detects coronary artery disease
• Coronary Angiogram which uses a special dye and x-rays to see how blood flows through your heart
• Nuclear MUGA (Multiple Gated Acquisition) Scan used to produce a computer-generated movie images of your beating heart
• Nuclear stress test shows how well blood flows into the heart

Cardiac Imaging Services

• Angioplasty and Stenting to address a blocked artery and keep it open with a stent
• Catheter Angiography to evaluate blood vessels using a dye
• Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) allows doctors to see if there is buildup on artery walls
• Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Filter Placement to filter out blood clots from traveling to the heart
• MR Angiography is a noninvasive MRI exam of the blood vessels
• Myocardial Perfusion reveals the flow of blood to the heart, known as a nuclear stress test
• PET/CT scans show detailed images of structures in your body
• Ultrasound for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) to examine the circulation in the arteries

Interventional Cardiology

Working with an experienced staff of nurses and technicians, our interventional cardiologists at South Florida Baptist Hospital perform diagnostic catheterizations in our Heart and Vascular Center. A cardiac catheterization is a procedure where a catheter is inserted into an artery in your wrist or groin and guided to your heart. Once there, the catheter measures the pressure of the blood in the chambers of the heart and takes images of your heart to determine any blockage. The results of the diagnostic catheterization can helps the physicians determine if the patient has heart disease.

• Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization via the Radial Artery in the wrist or the Femoral Artery in the Groin:
  • This includes Coronary and/or Bypass graft Angiograms which use a special dye and x-rays to see how blood flows through the arteries in your heart
• Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI - Stent) uses a drug-eluting stent to help prevent an artery from closing:
  • Types of PCI include: Angioplasty and Stenting to address a blocked artery or bypass grafts in the heart
• Peripheral Vascular Intervention (PVI)
  • Types of PVI include: Angioplasty, Stenting, and Atherectomy to address a blocked arteries outside the heart
• Pacemakers and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (PPMs and ICDs): 
  • Pacemakers are devices that pace a slow heart so that it beats at a normal rate
  • ICDs quickly send an electrical shock to the heart to change an abnormally fast rhythm back to a normal rhythm
• Pericardiocentesis is procedure is used to remove fluid from the sac that surrounds the heart

Cardiac Rehabilitation

A highly skilled, professional staff help people with cardiac or pulmonary disease look better and feel better through medically supervised fitness programs. Participants receive education on their disease and work with the staff to identify individual risk factors. A three-phase program provides step-by-step care that parallels the patients' recovery from illness. During exercise, individuals are monitored with advanced telemetry that alerts the staff to any changes in their well-being and prints out periodic reports so the physician can monitor progress. Learn more about our cardiac rehabilitation program and our intensive care unit.

For information on pediatric heart and vascular services, see the Children's Heart Center at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital.

For more information about our cardiology services or a physician referral, please call (813) 757-1200 or find a doctor near you. 

Learn more about heart and vascular services at BayCare.

Steve and Krista Howard Heart and Vascular Center
South Florida Baptist Hospital
301 N. Alexander St.
Plant City, FL 33563
Hours: 7:30am-5pm, Monday-Friday
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