Cardiology care for Laguna Niguel and south Orange County
If your internist near Crown Valley Parkway flagged a calcium score, if you’ve had palpitations on a morning ride along Aliso Creek, or if a recent ER visit at Saddleback Memorial ended with “follow up with cardiology” — our Beverly Hills office is the closest CACVI location, about 65 minutes north on the 5.
Laguna Niguel patients tend to come in already informed and looking for a second set of eyes. The town runs older and more affluent than the county average, the primary care landscape is largely private internists and Mission Hospital–affiliated practices, and most patients have already had imaging by the time they see us. Dr. Mehran J. Khorsandi and Dr. Moinakhtar Lala have more than thirty years of combined cardiac and vascular practice and over 15,000 procedures behind them. One doctor handles the whole visit, the imaging is read with you watching the screen, and your summary goes back to your Laguna Niguel internist the same day.
Find out the cause of your heart condition.
Most Laguna Niguel patients arrive for one of three things: a coronary calcium score that came back higher than expected, atrial fibrillation caught on a wearable and confirmed at the local ER, or follow-up after a stress test their internist wants reviewed by cardiology. Our team can perform a cardiac evaluation — exam, EKG, echo, stress test where useful — in a single visit at our Beverly Hills office, about 65 minutes from Laguna Niguel via the 5 north. The drive is long enough that we schedule Laguna Niguel patients with that in mind — mid-morning, no return visit if we can finish the workup in one day.
Laguna Niguel Cardiac Specialists
Both cardiologists are board-certified, fellowship-trained, and published in the same journals the academic centers down in Mission Viejo cite. The practical difference for our Laguna Niguel patients comes down to access: one cardiologist in the room for the whole appointment, time to walk through every image, and a written plan in your hands before you leave.
Be prepared.
Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills is the closest full-service ER for most Laguna Niguel residents, with Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo as the next closest. Both manage acute cardiac events well. Neither has the outpatient cardiology follow-up bandwidth that keeps you out of the ER next time. If you were discharged from either in the past couple of weeks with a “see cardiology” instruction, that’s exactly the appointment type we hold time for. Households should also know how to operate an AED — sudden cardiac arrest survival falls about 10% per minute without defibrillation, and Laguna Niguel’s hillside neighborhoods can mean longer ambulance response times.
The first visit for a Laguna Niguel patient generally runs 60 to 90 minutes. We start with the history — family events, current medications, what symptoms come up at what activity — then do a physical exam, EKG, and an echocardiogram if it’s indicated. If your recent imaging lives at Saddleback or Mission, bring the disc or send the release form ahead. The Beverly Hills office is at 8741 Alden Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90048; from Laguna Niguel, the 5 north to La Brea is the cleanest route — about 65 minutes outside peak hours.
Protect your heart.
Trust Your Heart to Our Expert Care
Adults 55 and older make up close to 40% of Laguna Niguel’s population, well above the Orange County average, and the local cardiac risk picture is shaped by that age band: coronary artery disease, calcified valves, atrial fibrillation. The encouraging part for our Laguna Niguel patients is that all three conditions are highly manageable with regular monitoring — a yearly cardiology workup catches most issues long before they end up as an emergency at Saddleback or Mission.
High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans (47%) have at least one of these three risk factors.
Our goal at CACVI is to help you achieve healthier living. As a stepping stone to healthier living, our physicians perform a variety of tests right here in our office. Our in-office diagnostic procedures can help our physicians and you determine a course of treatment that may help you improve your health and wellness for a better quality of living.
CACVI’s experienced cardiologists are determined to provide each patient with experienced, compassionate care as they work diligently to improve your health.
Dr. Moinakhtar Lala and Dr. Mehran J. Khorsandi
Meet Your Laguna Niguel Cardiologists
The Center for Advanced Cardiac and Vascular Interventions (CACVI) is led by Dr. Khorsandi and Dr. Lala, who have over thirty years of practice with over 15,000 vascular and cardiac procedures performed. Our physicians are determined to provide each patient with experienced, compassionate care as they work diligently to improve your health.
What our patients say
