HOUSTON - The “Heart Attack Team” at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center is on-call 24 hours, seven days a week, ready to report immediately to duty when a patient arrives at the VA in cardiac distress. This team of physicians and nurses prepares the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory to receive a patient for treatment by balloon angioplasty or stent.

“Patients are taken directly to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, often bypassing the Emergency Room, for percutaneous coronary procedures to restore blood flow to the heart,” said Biykem Bozkurt, M.D., Cardiology chief. “The goal of the team and this effort is to provide treatment as quickly as possible, within 90 minutes of a patient’s arrival.”

In Fiscal Year 2008, the average “Door to Balloon” time at the MEDVAMC was 82 minutes. A year later, the staff improved the time to 61 minutes. The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have developed national guidelines calling for a door-to-balloon time of less than 90 minutes for hospitals that offer direct angioplasty.

“We advise people to call 911 or get to a hospital immediately if they experience chest pressure or pain in the center of their chest. Especially, if this is accompanied by pain or discomfort in one or both arms, back, neck jaw, or stomach; shortness of breath; or sweating, nausea, or lightheadedness,” said Biswajit Kar, M.D., Interventional Cardiology director.

Performed by interventional cardiologists, a balloon angioplasty opens a patient’s narrowed arteries using a long, thin tube with a small balloon on its tip. The balloon is inflated at the blockage site in the artery to flatten or compress plaque against the artery wall.

Subsequently, in most cases, a coronary stent is also inserted. A stent is a small, mesh-like device made of metal. When a stent is placed inside of a coronary artery, it acts as a support or scaffold, keeping the vessel open. By keeping the vessel open, the stent helps to improve blood flow to the heart muscle.

“Cardiologists always say ‘Time is Muscle.’ Every minute matters when a patient is having a heart attack,” said Blase A. Carabello, M.D., Medical Care Line executive. “Swift treatment is important to improve a patient’s chance of survival and minimize damage to the heart by quickly restoring blood flow to the heart.”

The MEDVAMC already recognized for demonstrating consistently low observed-to-expected mortality rates in general surgery, all surgery, and all non-cardiac surgery nine years straight, continues to raise the bar and improve treatments and outcomes for Veterans who suffer heart attacks.