Interventional Cardiology – St. Mary’s Hospital and Health …

In the event of a heart attack or coronary blockage, saving time means saving lives. St. Marys provides faster cardiac care when our patients need it most, including direct routing to our state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab) for emergency interventional treatment of a heart attack.

St. Marys Interventional Cardiology services can open blocked arteries through minimally-invasive angioplasty procedures in a matter of minutes. In addition to femoral and transradial angioplasties, St. Marys also provides repair of congenital heart defects and treatment of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) through interventional procedures.

Interventional cardiology provides similar results to bypass surgery, but with several significant differences. Instead of spending five to six days in the hospital after surgery, interventional cardiology allows most patients to return home the very next day. Patients can return to full activity in less than a week, unlike the 30 to 60 days that bypass requires. And instead of having a traditional scar from opening the entire chest, this procedure can be performed through just a needle stick.

Balloon Angioplasty and stent implantation is the gold standard for emergency heart attack care and is appropriate for the vast majority of people experiencing myocardial infarction a heart attack.

Interventional procedures are provided at St. Marys Hospital in the state-of-the-art Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab).

More people are surviving heart attacks and seeing a decrease in heart muscle damage thanks to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and hospitals working together across Northeast Georgia.

St. Marys recognizes the importance of door-to-device time, or the crucial minutes from the time you enter the Emergency Department until you are treated in the Cath Lab to reopen a clogged coronary artery. These moments play the most important role in saving lives and decreasing heart muscle damage.

St. Marys is teaming up with EMS providers to ensure each crucial moment is measured and time is saved from the moment you first present symptoms of a heart attack until you are treated in the Cath Lab at the hospital. EMS providers send EKG results from the field to St. Marys. The cardiologist and cath team are notified at that time to meet the patient and begin treatment as soon as they arrive any time of the day or night. Everyone from hospital staff to paramedics, physicians, Emergency Department nurses and Cath Lab technicians have a role to play in saving time and saving lives.

Read about howSt. Marys helped Jerry Woodie survive a widow-maker.

St. Marys maintains a door-to-device time below the American College of Cardiology 90 minute recommendation. Staff continually monitors success in achieving this goal on a daily basis.

To learn more about interventional cardiology, angioplasty and stents, visit these credible websites:

Originally posted here:

Interventional Cardiology - St. Mary's Hospital and Health ...