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Q: Hello Dr. Van Assche, I hope you are doing well and welcome to Miami. You just recently joined the practice My Cardiologist correct?
A: Hi, yes that is correct and thank you for inviting me for an interview. I recently completed my training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and moved to Miami to start working with the My Cardiologist group.
Q: How did you decide to come to Miami?
A: This was a combination of both personal and professional reasons. My wife grew up in Miami and has a lot of family here. Over the years, we would come down for vacation and holidays and we knew that one day we would relocate here. In addition, there is a need for cardiologists in Miami given the high burden of cardiovascular disease. I hope to have a positive impact on the community in the years to come and help patients feel better and live longer.
Q: So, you are a cardiologist but with additional training, correct?
A: Yes, I trained at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago which is one of the top 10 academic cardiology programs in the country. I was able to train with national and international leaders in the field. This provided me with the tools to treat patients with innovative and evidence-based therapies. For example, for heart stent placements, I frequently use additional tools such as intravascular imaging, hemodynamic assessments, and calcium removal tools to really provide precision stent placement for my patients. This leads to better outcomes and more long-term durability.
Q: That is great! And you also treat heart valve problems without the need for open heart surgery?
A: Yes, and this is really one of my passions! Over the last decade, there has been tremendous innovation and progress in the field of interventional and what we call structural cardiology. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR is now approved for all patients with severe aortic stenosis (which is a severe narrowing in the aortic valve). This means that a patient comes in electively in the morning and the TAVR is performed. The procedure is done through a catheter in the leg and most patients are discharged from the hospital in about 2 days.
Q: Are there similar treatments for other heart valves?
A: Yes, many patients are now candidates for catheter based mitral valve repair or replacement as well. Just recently, there was an expansion in the indications for this type of procedure. Therefore, if you have moderate or severe leakage in the mitral valve it would be recommended to get evaluated for one of these treatments. In addition, I was involved in many trials that evaluated catheter treatments for other heart valves that will hopefully become available to our patients in the near future.
Q: That is truly amazing innovation! Well thank you so much for your time Dr. Van Assche and again welcome to Miami.
A: Yes. I am excited to bring some of these procedure to our patients and look forward to serving the community here at My Cardiologist.
Dr. Lowie Van Assche recently joined the Practice of MY CARDIOLOGIST. Dr. Van Assche was trained at one of the top cardiology programs in the country . Dr. Van Assche specializes in coronary artery disease which are blocked heart arteries and catheter based procedures for valvular heart disease. Same day office and telemedicine appointments available. Call 305.666.4633 | MyCardiologist.com
