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As part of its extensive array of cardiovascular services, Holy Name Medical Center now offers primary angioplasty, the lifesaving alternative to coronary bypass surgery and thrombolytic drug therapy. Until now, heart attack patients treated at Holy Name had to be transferred to other facilities if physicians recommended emergency angioplasty.
Angioplasty is the treatment of choice for people in the throes of heart attack. Short for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), angioplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that widens narrowed blood vessels with a balloon mechanism to restore blood flow to the heart muscle. In most cases, a stent is then inserted to ensure that the vessel remains open. As practitioner skill has advanced and technological support has evolved, the procedure has become increasingly safe, with fewer complications. Although Holy Name Medical Center has not hosted its own angioplasty program before now, seven interventional cardiologists (the physicians who perform the procedure) are on its staff and have collectively performed thousands of angioplasties at other facilities, in addition to diagnostic cardiac catheterizations at Holy Name, where they are assisted by a highly skilled and experienced nursing and technical staff. The Medical Center has a consistent record of outstanding performance with regard to cardiac care in general. For four consecutive years, Holy Name earned a five-star rating for excellence in cardiac care from HealthGrades, an Internet benchmarking agency that rates healthcare institutions throughout the nation. The Medical Center offers a full range of cardiac diagnostic tests, inpatient and outpatient cardiac care, as well as an award-winning cardiac rehabilitation program. To accommodate patient demand, Holy Name recently completed construction on a second state-of-the-art, digital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and its original catheterization lab is slated for a total modernization in the near future. These improvements will make Holy Name's cath labs the most updated in the region. In the rare instance that a patient should necessitate immediate cardiac surgery while receiving care at Holy Name, transfer relationships exist with other local medical centers. |
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Angioplasty Services
