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Special Emergency Treatment Saves Lives Of Heart Attack Victims At Montefiore Medical Center

NEW YORK CITY,NY (June 2000) -- Most hospitals treat emergency heart attack victims with a clot-busting drug. At Montefiore Medical Center, however, specially trained physicians insert a balloon catheter to rapidly restore blood flow into the life-threatening, clogged artery.

Primary angioplasty, as the emergency operation is called, is generally recognized as the preferred treatment for heart attacks, but is available only at select medical centers. Montefiore is the only medical center in the Bronx and lower Westchester to use this emergency treatment.

“Primary angioplasty shortens hospital stays, is more effective, and has fewer complications than drug treatment," said David Brown, M.D., associate director, Cardiovascular Division, Montefiore. “In addition, there is little risk of stroke with angioplasty versus taking TPA (a clot busting drug). The other advantage, explains Dr.Brown, is that virtually all patients are eligible for angioplasty, whereas patients who have recently had surgery or have had a stroke cannot take clot busting drugs, and many patients return home in three days, versus six days for drug treatment.”

The reason most hospitals do not provide primary angioplasty is that they are not equipped or staffed to do so. It takes a collaborative effort of many specialists at Montefiore to carry out the procedure and involves a streamlined process that takes approximately one hour.

Here's how the process works. When a patient shows up with chest pains at the Emergency Department (ED), he or she is evaluated by the ED staff. Once the diagnosis of a heart attack is confirmed, a blood thinner is administered to ensure no further blockage. The patient is then taken immediately to the catheterization laboratory for an angiogram, a procedure in which a dye is injected into the arteries to pinpoint the exact location of the blockage. It is at this juncture that an angioplasty is performed. The patient is then sent to the coronary care unit for monitoring.

The Montefiore-Einstein Heart Center provides a full range of services, from diagnostic procedures to interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery and rehabilitation. Montefiore’s recently designated Heart Transplant Center is one of only five such centers in New York State.

Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, ranks among the top one percent of all US hospitals based on its investments in medical innovation and cutting-edge technology.

Montefiore invests more in order to enable compassionate, personalized care and the most positive outcomes for patients and their families in New York, the tri-state area and beyond.

Montefiore’s unique combination of ‘state-of-the-art’ technology with ‘state-of-the-heart’ medical and nursing care in a teaching and research environment provides patients with access to world-class medical experts, the newest and most innovative treatments and the best medical center experience anywhere.

This 1,062 bed medical center includes the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, a large home healthcare agency and a 21-site medical group practice located throughout the Bronx and nearby Westchester.

Montefiore treats all major illnesses and has distinguished centers of excellence in cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore Medical Center focuses on providing family-centered healthcare in a nurturing environment that extends well beyond hospital and clinic walls.