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Your Treatment Options After a Heart Attack
If you or a loved one has had a heart
attack, you may be wondering about
some of the lifesaving treatments available.
Fortunately, you have many options
— especially when you turn to Jersey Shore
University Medical Center, Ocean Medical
Center, or Riverview Medical Center. We are
the only hospitals in Monmouth and Ocean
counties to rank in the top 10 percent in the state for overall quality based on the New
Jersey Department of Health and Senior
Services Hospital report. For treatment of
heart attack, Jersey Shore and Riverview are
the leaders in Monmouth County.
"Meridian Health is home to the most
comprehensive cardiac program in the
region," states J. Gordon Boak, M.D., chief
of Cardiology at Jersey Shore. "You can be
sure you will receive a seamless continuum
of cardiac care from the moment you
enter one of our emergency departments.
All three medical centers have received
national designations as Chest Pain
Centers, and are adept at rapidly diagnosing
heart disease."
Angioplasty Is a Local Option
A heart attack can happen as a result of
a narrowed or blocked artery, which prevents
adequate blood from reaching the
heart muscle. Sometimes the artery can be
opened up with angioplasty.
Angioplasty is performed on more than
1 million people in the U.S. every year.
"We insert a small hollow tube or stent into
the blocked artery," says Dr. Boak.
"A balloon inside the stent is inflated.
This pushes open the artery so
that blood flows better. In the case
of a heart attack, the angioplasty
must be done as an emergency."
All three Meridian hospitals are
licensed to perform emergency
angioplasty procedures — allowing
patients suffering from heart attack
to receive the most advanced treatment
available. In addition, cardiologists
who are affiliated with
Jersey Shore can perform scheduled
or elective angioplasties at
their cardiac catheterization lab.
"The cardiac catheterization lab
at Jersey Shore is one of the largest
and most experienced in New
Jersey and the tri-state area," says
Dr. Boak. "In fact, Jersey Shore
performs more than 10 times the
number of angioplasties of all other
Monmouth and Ocean county hospitals
combined.
"In addition to volume and experience,
timing is a critical measure of success in
the treatment of heart attack," continues
Dr. Boak. "Each of our hospitals tracks its
performance closely. We all participate
in the American College of Cardiology's
national Door to Balloon initiative. Our
goal is to have the artery causing the heart
attack opened within 90 minutes."
At Jersey Shore, the team is also backed
by the only cardiac surgery program in the
region. This team of cardiac surgeons has
been recognized for its experience and
quality, and its outcomes are among the
nation's best.
| Cardiac catheterization is a procedure
that assists in the diagnosis of a variety
of heart conditions. In addition to interventional
procedures for heart attack, the
cardiac catheterization lab, or "cath lab,"
performs key procedures to regulate the
electrical activity of the heart in the subspecialty
of electrophysiology. The following
procedures may also be performed
and represent the specialized capabilities
of Jersey Shore: |
- Angioplasty and Stent Placements
- Coronary Artery Rotoblator
- Pacemaker Implantation
- Cardio Defibrillator Implantation
- Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (Biventricular Pacing)
- Athrectomy
- Thrombectomy
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- Valvulorplasty
- Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS )
- Intra Aortic Balloon Pumps
- Stent Procedures in Other Arteries
- Beyond the Heart
- Carotid Stents
- Electrophysiology Ablations
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Boak, J. G., M.D.
Board certified in Internal Medicine
Neptune, NJ 07754
(732) 776-4073
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