Memorial Heart Attack Teams Provide Prompt, Leading-Edge Care
Heart Attack Symptoms
Did you know that most heart attacks start slowly and are accompanied by mild pain or discomfort, rather than sudden and intense symptoms? Call 911 or get to a hospital immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms of heart attack:
- Chest pain with intermittent pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain
- Shortness of breath
- Weakness or numbness in arms, hands, legs or feet
- Nausea, dizziness or lightheadedness
- Unusual fatigue
- Cold sweats
February 2006 — Each year, according to the American Heart Association, 565,000 Americans experience a heart attack for the first time and an additional 300,000 have a recurrent attack. Treating heart attack within the first 90 minutes is critical to survival and for preventing long-term damage to the heart and related blood vessels.
Rapid Response Heart Attack Teams at Memorial Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital West consist of specially trained physicians and nurses to provide fast, advanced treatment of heart attack. This includes emergency cardiac catheterization and angioplasty to clear blocked arteries — available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Minutes Mean Muscle
A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery becomes blocked with a blood clot. Without adequate blood flow, the heart does not receive the oxygen and other nutrients it needs to function. Fast treatment is vital for reducing the risk of damage to the heart muscle, disability or death.
“We have the ability to diagnose a heart attack faster and provide the immediate intervention needed to save lives,” says Bassel B. Ibrahim, MD, Director of Interventional Cardiology at Memorial Regional Hospital and Medical Director of Cardiac Catheterization Services at Memorial Hospital West. “In some patients, the blocked artery can be reopened in less than 45 minutes.”
Historic Innovations
Memorial has a longstanding reputation for providing important developments in cardiac care to the community.
In the early 1980s, clot-dissolving medications revolutionized heart attack treatment. More recently, angioplasty, the use of balloons to open blocked vessels, has gained broad acceptance for treating heart attack. Memorial Regional Hospital also has the AngioJet®, a special device designed to remove the clot that is causing the heart attack.
But even with the major advancement of angioplasty, there were still some limitations, including incidents of the artery becoming blocked again (restenosis). With the introduction of stents — tiny, metal tubes placed in the artery to keep it open after angioplasty — the success rate has increased. Further enhancing the effectiveness of this procedure are federally approved, drug-eluting stents — stents coated with medications that help prevent restenosis.
Recent studies have concluded that angioplasty is superior to medication for treating heart attacks. “The success rate following these new innovations has grown to more than 95 percent, compared to results from the best medication, which has a success rate of only 75 percent to 80 percent,” Dr. Ibrahim says. “Not only does angioplasty open more arteries, it also creates a more brisk blood flow, which has been found to give us better short- and long-term outcomes.
“The interventional cardiologists at Memorial Cardiac & Vascular Institute realize the importance of re-establishing blood flow quickly,” he continues. “We will continue to develop a leading standard of care and refine our protocol to ensure rapid, effective and safe treatment.”
If you are concerned about your risk for a heart attack and would like a referral to one of our highly qualified physicians, call Memorial Physician Referral Service toll-free at (800) 944-DOCS. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.