HJAR Mar/Apr 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2022 59 Steven Meadors, MD Vascular Surgeon CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute also work with patients suffering aortic an- eurysms that are either in the chest or in the abdomen, although a lot of times aneurysms are asymptomatic so we’re aggressive in screening for those. An Integrated, Team Approach to Heart Care With such a wide range of heart disease af- fectingArkansans, it has become increasingly clear how important it is for doctors and oth- er healthcare professionals across specialties to work together. We all want the same thing, which is the best possible outcome for our patients. In order to achieve that, we need to leverage each other’s expertise. The vascular surgeon rounds out any defi- ciencies heart care teams may have to ensure each patient can benefit from the care of a surgeon with significant expertise in their specific condition. n Steven Meadors, MD, is a vascular surgeon with the CHI St.Vincent Cardiovascular Surgery Clinic in Little Rock. He specializes in the treatment of diseases af- fecting blood vessels, like peripheral vascular disease and conditions that lead to a hardening of the arteries. Meadors attended medical school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed a residency in general surgery and fellowship training in vascular surgery at the University of Texas South- western Medical Center in Dallas. home to Arkansas than I even witnessed in nearby Texas. There are a lot of reasons for that, including lifestyle choices, widespread obesity and the overall damage smoking causes to the vascular system. All of this means that vascular disease is more severe in Arkansas than even many of our neigh- boring states. As a vascular surgeon, I spendmuch of my time treating patients with peripheral vascu- lar disease, which includes blockages in the arteries in the legs primarily. This condition is usually symptomatic with people having pain in their calves when they walk, and it can progress to the point that they have constant pain in their feet or a wound on their foot that is not healing. In these cases, it needs to be further investigated to see if they have significant vascular disease. As a vascular surgeon, I also work with a significant number of patients with carotid stenosis, or a blockage in the carotid artery of the neck that supplies the brain. These pa- tients are often experiencing intermittent vi- sion changes, intermittent weakness on one side of their body, or even slurred speech. These can be signs and symptoms of a mini stroke or even more severe symptoms can mean a stroke caused by carotid disease. I “Heart disease remains a leading cause of death across the nation, but I have seen much more severe disease here since returning home to Arkansas than I even witnessed in nearby Texas.” With the exceptional team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons already in place at the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute, I recently joined the institute to complement their ex- pertise as one of the few vascular surgeons in the state. Vascular surgery really only became a specialty in itself within the past 20 years as we began to recognize the need for surgeons dedicated to vascular pathologies with ex- pertise in both traditional surgery and new endovascular techniques. That may seem like a long time, but in truth it means that we gen- erally have a gap when it comes to this kind of expertise inArkansas, andmy work means filling that void while simultaneously educat- ing my fellow healthcare providers who may not yet fully understand the complementary nature of this field. Avascular surgeon basically focuses on all the blood vessels outside of the heart and out- side of the brain. Whether utilizing traditional open surgery or endovascular and percutane- ous methods, and I often combine techniques at the same time to optimally treat patients, we can even performmany of the same pro- cedures as an interventional cardiologists or interventional radiologists when it comes to treating the peripheral vasculature. We also operate all over the body and have a wide range of tools in our toolbox to help care for patients and address their complex problems. Arkansas Needs a Diverse Set of Tools to Address Heart Disease Heart disease remains a leading cause of death across the nation, but I have seenmuch more severe disease here since returning