Rapid response for heart attack.

It’s what makes McLaren Macomb a fully accredited Chest Pain Center.

It means the most advanced procedures are in place for cardiac emergencies – and a skilled cardiology team is available immediately to open up arteries and stop a heart attack in progress.

It all starts in the ambulance, when first responders begin transmitting data directly to the cardiac catheterization lab at McLaren Macomb. Typically, patients are able to skip the emergency room completely and head directly to the cath lab for lifesaving interventional treatment (in many cases, balloon angioplasty). McLaren Macomb consistently beats the national average for “door-to-balloon” time. That’s a measure of how quickly treatment is administered when a patient first comes to the hospital with heart attack symptoms. McLaren Macomb’s time is typically under 60 minutes – that’s well under the national standard of 90 minutes. And when chest pain or heart attack symptoms are involved, there’s no time to lose.

Macomb County's most comprehensive cardiovascular program,
McLaren Macomb's Mat Gaberty Heart Center

But McLaren Macomb also relies on the advanced technology available in its cardiac cath labs. Here, highly skilled cardiologists can offer the latest interventional procedures, including transradial angioplasty.

With angioplasty, physicians use a thin tube, or catheter, with a small balloon on its tip. They gently thread the catheter through an artery and may perform an angiogram using dye to allow them to take pictures of the arteries and to detect any blockage inside the artery. Then they are able to advance the balloon-tipped catheter through the artery and across the blockage. They inflate the balloon at the site of the blockage to flatten, or compress, the blockage and open up the artery.

In many cases, they also place a stent (a small, mesh-like device made of metal) in the artery to keep the artery open permanently. Today, cardiologists also have the choice of using stents coated with drugs to help keep the arteries from reclosing later on.

At McLaren Macomb, cardiologists are also skilled in using transradial angioplasty, one of the most advanced treatment options available. With this procedure, the cardiologist uses the radial artery in the wrist (rather than the groin) as the entry point for the catheter to perform the angioplasty.
This approach has a lower risk of bleeding at the access site and allows the patient to gain mobility faster.

Other national recognition

The Mat Gaberty Heart Center holds several important certifications and accreditations from national review organizations, assuring patients that the hospital maintains the highest standards of treatment. Click here for more information.

The hospital has earned an additional certification. Its echocardiography testing is fully accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). Echocardiography testing is used in the early detection of life-threatening cardiovascular disorders and other diseases. This testing measures blood flow through the heart, plus it enables physicians to view the heart valve structure and heart wall function.

Experience and technology:

With an experienced cardiac team and advanced treatment options, the Mat Gaberty Heart Center has met the highest standards for assessing, diagnosing and treating patients quickly. When it comes to a heart attack, it’s the difference that can save lives.

For more information on cardiac programs at McLaren Macomb, please visit www.mclaren.org/macombheart.