Cardiology

Advancements in diagnostic cardiac catheterization technologies and minimally invasive interventional procedures are helping people get treatment before they have a heart attack, allowing them to recover faster and get back to active living.

Medical City Healthcare hospitals are equipped and staffed to provide 24/7 cardiology care, including locating and alleviating blockages with excellent door-to-balloon times.

Door-to-balloon time is a key performance metric in heart attack treatment. The time starts when a patient arrives to the ER and ends when the blocked artery is opened in the cardiac cath lab.

During a severe cardiac episode, such as a heart attack, minutes matter. The faster you can get access to lifesaving interventions, the greater your chances of survival and maximum recovery with minimal heart damage.

Find a heart specialist or call (844) 671-4204.

Signs and symptoms of a heart attack differ from person to person and are different in men and in women. Always call 911 if you think someone is having a heart attack. Heart attack warning signs typically include:

• Chest pain, discomfort, fullness or pressure
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body, such as one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
• Cold sweat
• Nausea/vomiting
• Lightheadedness
• Heartburn

As with men, women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. However, women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other symptoms, particularly, shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

No matter how complex your cardiac care needs are, the Medical City Healthcare network has fellowship-trained cardiovascular surgeons and specialized team members who perform a variety of advanced heart and vascular surgery.

Medical City Healthcare offers a heart transplant program through Medical City Heart Hospital. After medication and assistive therapies have been exhausted, a heart transplant may be the best treatment option. The full-service program takes you from evaluation and eligibility through transplantation surgery and recovery.

After a cardiac event, such as a heart attack or heart surgery, we offer patients access to comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation services. With a supervised exercise program, nutritional counseling and additional resources, we help patients get and stay heart healthy.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. While symptoms vary widely for men and women, most heart attack sufferers had no previous symptoms. That's why it is crucial to know your personal risk factors and take the necessary steps to reduce them.

Although there are congenital (present at birth) forms of heart disease that are passed along from one generation to the next, the more common forms of heart disease are directly related to lifestyle.

Heart disease symptoms can build up over time and often go unnoticed until the disease is firmly established. However, you can reduce your risk of heart disease by exercising regularly, eating healthy foods and keeping track of these vital numbers:

• Body mass index (BMI): A high BMI usually points to excess body weight, which causes your heart to pump harder to circulate your blood. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 indicates you may be overweight. A BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity.
• Total cholesterol and high density lipoproteins (HDL): A greater total cholesterol level is less than 200. If your total level is 240 or more, you are at an increased risk for heart disease. You may also want to monitor your HDL level, which is recommend to be 50 or more. If it is less than 40, you are at a higher risk for heart disease.
• Blood sugar: Too much unconverted sugar in the blood system makes the heart pump harder, adding stress to the muscle. You may have diabetes if your blood sugar is above 126.
• Blood pressure: High blood pressure indicates the heart is working harder than it should to circulate your blood. In 2018, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology redefined blood pressure guidelines and deleted the prehypertension category. These new guidelines mean nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure. A blood pressure reading of less than 120 and less than 80 is considered "normal." A reading between 120 to 129 and less than 80 is considered elevated. Readings consistently greater than 130 or 80 are indicative of hypertension.