Cone Hospital review [August, 1967]

              MOSES CONE HOSPITAL
REVIEW
Vol. II  No. 4
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
August, 1967
County Health
ml
Study Started
A Guilford County Comprehensive
Health Study to ascertain projected
health needs of the county, possibly
through the year 2000, is being undertaken. Mr. Marshall Abee, Director
of Community Health Services, Inc.,
and Mr. Chandler Sharp, Director of
the Community Council, have recently announced the leadership of the
study.
Serving as co-chairmen of the study
will be Dr. Grimsley Hobbs, President
of Guilford College, and Mr. Edward
J. Pleasants, Senior Vice-President of
N.C.N.B. Chipf medical advisors will
be Dr. O. Norris Smith, President of
Community Health Services, Inc. and
Dr. A. B. Croom, President of the
County Medical Society. The co-chairmen are in the process of recruiting a
committee whose members will consist of professionals in the health field
as well as civic-minded laymen. The
administrators of each of the hospitals
will also serve on the committee which
is expected to consist of 30 to 40 people.
The committee will function in an
advisory capacity and assist in acquiring a consulting firm to make the
study. The committee will also be of
assistance in gathering necessary facts
and in seeing that recommendations
resulting from the study are properly
implemented. It is hoped that a professional team of consultants can be
hired by late September and the study
begun. Federal funds are available
through the Comprehensive Health
Planning and Public Health Services
Amendment of 1966. These funds
would pay for 75% of the total cost
of the study leaving 25 % which would
have to be raised locally.
A similar county-wide study of projected health needs for Mecklenburg
County was recently completed. Other
studies have been done for several
counties in central N. C. as well as for
Forsyth County. It is hoped that when
the Guilford County study is completed, the projections can be added to
those for Forsyth County forming a
plan for the Triad area.
Dr. Nolan Begins Work With
Cardio-Pulmonary Laboratory
Dr. Thomas B. Nolan
The director of the Cardiopulmonary Laboratory, Dr. Thomas B.
Nolan, is a man who likes challenges.
Since the purpose of the Cardiac
Catheterization Laboratory is the diagnoses of heart defects, the challenge
should be great. For over three years,
a number of Greensboro physicians,
interested in heart disease, have been
directing a great deal of time and effort
into developing a Cardio-pulmonary
Laboratory based at Moses Cone Hospital. They have been interested in
bringing the latest in diagnostic
techniques into the community in
order to relieve the need for sending
patients away from home for diagnosis
and treatment of cardiac conditions.
Their efforts have materialized with
the opening of the new Cardio-pulmonary Laboratory, under the direction of Thomas B. Nolan, M.D.
In a recent interview with Dr. Nolan, it was learned that the facilities
of the laboratory were designed to
diagnose the nature and severity of
two broad categories of heart disease:
1) congential heart defects which one
might be born with such as that caused
by rheumatic fever, and 2)  acquired
heart disease. This latter category encompasses intracardiac disease as well
as certain diseases involving the major arteries of the body. The facilities
will also be used to further research
in the area of cardiovascular disease.
Basically, the general procedure involves the introduction of a long hol-
how tube, called a catheter, via a vein
or artery into the various chambers of
the heart under fluoroscopic observation. By selective positioning of the
catheters, it is possible to determine
whether there is a shunt or "short circuit" within the heart, and if so its
size. It is also possible to measure any
obstruction or leakage of any of the
valves within the heart. By measuring
the pressures within the heart chambers, and the amount of blood the
heart pumps to the body and lungs
under varying conditions it is possible
to tell whether the heart muscle itself
is performing properly.
The establishment of the Cardiopulmonary Laboratory at Moses Cone
Hospital represents the second such
facility in the state outside a university
center. The development of this special
laboratory has been accomplished only
through the support given by the
trustees and administration of the hospital. However, as Dr. Nolan stated,
"This laboratory will require the support of the community at large, as
well as the medical community of Guilford County to utilize its full potential."
As director of the lab, Dr. Nolan
will serve as a consultant for physicians
referring patients to the lab for diagnoses. After extensive study of each
case, Dr. Nolan would be able to advise the physician whether or not
surgery would help correct the defect
in the patient's heart. Open heart surgery which is the natural follow-up for
defects amenable to surgery is expected to be performed here in the
near future.
According to Dr. Nolan, this technique of catheterization has been per-
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