Made for more beats
Jan 25, 2021
At 网曝门事件 Health Simi Valley, cardiology experts stop heart attacks in their tracks
鈥淵ou鈥檙e having a heart attack.鈥�
Those are the words the emergency room doctor told the middle-aged man as a sharp pain coursed through his chest. He had known the feeling 鈥� he鈥檇 been through this once before.
鈥淚t looks bad,鈥� said cardiologist Dr. Thanh Nguyen. He knew this patient 鈥� he鈥檇 placed a stent in his heart just three years earlier when another artery was clogged.
鈥淕et a chest X-ray and get him down to the cath lab.鈥�
When heart attacks happen, mere minutes can spell the difference between heart failure or a full recovery, and in some cases, life or death. At 网曝门事件 Health Simi Valley鈥檚 advanced cardiac catheterization lab, a team of experts work to stop blockages in their tracks.
When people hear about heart procedures, they might think of complex open-heart surgery. That鈥檚 not what happens in the cath lab. Instead, skilled cardiologists like Dr. Nguyen perform a minimally-invasive procedure that involves fishing a wire about the diameter of a sewing needle through an artery in the upper thigh and running it to a patient鈥檚 heart.
By the time the patient had been wheeled to the cath lab, the team was already waiting for him. When patients come in with a severe heart attack, clearing the blockage is among the most stressful events healthcare professionals can encounter. In this case, the block was in a left anterior descending vessel, referred to informally as the 鈥渨idow maker鈥� for its low survival rate.
Dr. Nguyen looked to his team.
鈥淪tay calm. It鈥檚 just like any other procedure we do, just a little bit faster,鈥� he said. They huddled around the patient and went to work.
For the next few minutes, lights dimmed as X-ray techs Alan Taylor and Michelle Flores injected contrast and saline into the arteries, allowing Dr. Nguyen to detect blockages in overhead monitors.
Within three minutes, Dr. Nguyen located the blockage. Just five minutes later, the team used a Penumbra 鈥� a suction device 鈥� to clear a clot from the artery.
In total, clearing the blockage and saving that man鈥檚 life took just 28 minutes from the moment he came through the ER doors.
鈥淚f he didn鈥檛 get here when he did, he could have died, and now he鈥檚 alive and can enjoy his family and his grandkids,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the reason why we do what we do.鈥�
