Dr. Gregory Sampognaro

Affinity Health Group – Affinity Behavioral Health

An M.D. graduate from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Dr. Gregory Sampognaro has earned numerous awards, especially at the beginning of his career. Dr. Gregory Sampognaro serves as a physician at the Affinity Health Group (AHG). At AHG, Gregory Sampognaro, M.D. specializes in interventional cardiology.

The AHG is a group of medical practitioners who have combined their expertise in several medical specialties to help patients and community members throughout Monroe and Shreveport, Louisiana. With over 30 clinics across Monroe, AHG covers a wide range of services for the community, ranging from surgical interventions to laboratory exams.

The specialties covered by the AHG include cardiology, dermatology, nutrition, and behavioral health. The Affinity Behavioral Health clinic, located in 920 Oliver Road, Monroe, has received recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for serving the community with high-quality care.

Some of the Affinity Behavioral Health services are weight-loss counseling, stress management, mental health, and substance abuse treatment. The clinic also provides social services such as case management and assistance with Medicaid applications.

Eligibility Criteria for ABIM Certificate in Interventional Cardiology

Affiliated with Affinity Health Group, Dr. Gregory Sampognaro has over two decades’ experience offering cardiac care. With an M.D. from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Dr. Gregory Sampognaro holds certifications including one in interventional cardiology from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

ABIM has strict requirements for certification as an interventional cardiologist. These cover many things from formal training to procedural competence, professionalism, and testing. For starters, eligible physicians must have completed at least 12 months of interventional cardiology clinical fellowship training accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and three years of accredited training in cardiovascular disease.

In the course of interventional cardiology training, the candidate must have done no less than 250 therapeutic interventional cardiac procedures. The candidate must have been involved in procedural planning, technical case manipulations, and post-procedural management. This must be well documented and attested by a training program director.

Additional documentation is required to confirm a candidate’s competence in medicine, patient care and procedure, practice-based learning, systems-based practice, communication, and professionalism. Finally, a candidate for certification must hold a valid, unchallenged medical practice license and pass the Interventional Cardiology Certification Examination.

An Introduction To Restenosis

The recipient of a doctor of medicine degree from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, Dr. Gregory Sampognaro, MD, is a physician at Affinity Health Group. Dr. Gregory Sampognaro, MD, is also a co-author of medical articles including “Clinical Outcome after Repeat Percutaneous Intervention for Renal Artery In-Stent Restenosis.”

A condition where an artery that was unblocked via surgical procedures such as stenting and angioplasty becomes clogged again, restenosis usually occurs when angioplasty is done on a patient without stenting. In the absence of a stent, a newly opened artery has an increased likelihood of collapsing or getting blocked again. Even when stenting is done, restenosis can develop within the stent.

Restenosis usually develops within three to six months after a patient has undergone angioplasty and stenting. Because they are coated with special drugs that impair the growth of scar tissues and prevent the deposition of plaque inside the stent, drug-eluting stents are more likely to prevent or delay restenosis in patients compared to bare-metal stents. The rate of restenosis developing in a patient treated with drug-eluting stents can be below 10 percent.

Shortness of breath and occasional chest pain are some symptoms of restenosis. Patients are advised to have regular follow-up visits with their doctor after having an angioplasty procedure with or without stenting.

Currently, stent manufacturers and medical communities are currently attempting to address the issue of restenosis.