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Overview
Holy Name Medical Center's multidisciplinary cardiac team, including board-certified cardiologists, neurologists, emergency medicine physicians, nurse practitioners, technicians, and nurses, provides optimal quality care for all cardiac patients, with gender-specific diagnostics and treatments in both outpatient and inpatient settings. The Medical Center's comprehensive cardiac program includes a continuum of care from preventive and diagnostic monitoring to treatment and rehabilitation services, with the goal of detecting and treating cardiac disease before it becomes life-threatening.
Skilled physicians and specialized registered nurses routinely perform a number of technically advanced procedures, including through-the-wrist catheterization, a method of diagnosing and treating cardiac blockages that results in less discomfort and a quicker recovery time for patients than with the standard entry through the groin. Cardiac monitoring recorders, a tiny device implanted just beneath the skin to record cardiac activity, are also available for patients with unrelenting palpitations or pain.
Clinical Specialties
Holy Name Medical Center provides a broad spectrum of services for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, and the rehabilitation of individuals who have had a cardiac event or are recovering from a cardiac procedure.
Cardiac catheterizations are minimally invasive procedures used to diagnose or treat blockages in the vessels leading to the heart. A thin tube – catheter – is inserted through an artery to the heart to find plague buildup that is preventing or slowing blood flow. If one or more blockages are found, stents are implanted to keep the walls of the arteries open, allowing blood to flow freely.
- Cardiac catheterization via the femoral artery in the groin
- Radial cardiac catheterization via the radial artery in the wrist
Cardiac rehabilitation services are available for patients who are recovering from a cardiac event or procedure.
Echocardiograms are similar to sonograms or ultrasounds, using sound waves to visualize the heart, valves and blood vessels while assessing their function.
Electrocardiograms (EKGs) record electrical impulses of the heart's contractions to determine whether damage has caused arrhythmia, an irregular heart rhythm
A loop recorder is a tiny cardiac monitoring device implanted under the skin of the chest that can be worn for up to 3 years. It records heartbeats when the patient pushes a button or when it detects an abnormal heartbeat to determine the cause of consistent pain or discomfort.
Pacemakers are small devices implanted in people with irregular heartbeats to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate. All are now MRI-compatible, allowing patients to be able to undergo MRIs in the future if needed.
SPECT imaging also known as nuclear medicine, is used to see how the heart works at rest and when stressed. A radioactive substance is injected into the patient and then scans are taken before and after the patient exercises to show any malfunctioning vessels and damaged heart muscle. Holy Name's nuclear equipment produces high-resolution, 3D images, reducing the dosage and time patients are exposed to radiation compared to many physicians' offices and other facilities.
A stress echocardiography is an echocardiogram before and after a stress test to determine the heart's functioning capacity.
A tilt-table test is a diagnostic tool to find the cause of fainting spells. Patients lie on a bed that is tilted upright while their blood pressure, oxygen level and electrical impulses to the heart are monitored.
A transesophageal echocardiograms is an internal ultrasound that is used when an echocardiogram doesn't provide a thorough image of the heart and vessels.
A 64-slice CT angiography is a diagnostic tool used to look for coronary disease. In this outpatient, non-invasive CT scan, the patient is injected with a dye that shows any blockages and malfunctioning sections of the heart.
