The heart is a muscle, fed by arteries called coronary arteries that supply the muscle with oxygen. During a heart attack, one of these coronary arteries becomes blocked, depriving the muscle of oxygen and causing the chest pain and pressure that are so synonymous with heart attacks. As the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen, the cells that make up the muscle begin to die.

Muscle is lost by the minute during a heart attack, and if blood is not restored to the heart quickly, it can lead to irreversible damage to the heart and, sometimes, even death.

Limiting damage to the heart – and possibly saving the life of the patient – requires opening the blocked coronary artery to restore the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the cells of the heart muscle. To do this, hospitals across the country, including Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, are using a procedure called cardiac angioplasty and stenting.

During cardiac angioplasty, a small incision is made, often in the leg, and a tube called a catheter is inserted into a large artery. The catheter is then navigated to the heart arteries and a balloon and/or stent – a small tube made of wire mesh – is inserted in the heart artery at the site of the blockage. The balloon or stent is inflated to open the blockage and restore blood flow.

Blockages in the coronary arteries can be caused by high levels of cholesterol, which turns into plaque and lines the walls of arteries, causing them to narrow or become blocked over time. The surface of the plaque in the artery may also rupture, causing a blood clot to form and leading to a heart attack.

The name of the game is time. It’s essential that blood flow be restored to the heart as quickly as possible. In the past, patients had to be transported to hospitals in Atlanta for this procedure, losing valuable minutes as their hearts deteriorated without oxygen. Now, angioplasty is available much closer to home for west Georgia residents. According to the American College of Cardiology (ACC), a patient should be able to undergo an angioplasty procedure within at least 90 minutes of arriving at the hospital. The national average time from when a patient enters the hospital doors to undergoing the procedure is estimated at 120 minutes; at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, the average time is less than ACC guidelines and much better than the national average.

A visitor experiencing a heart attack and arriving at any of Tanner’s 24-hour emergency departments will activate Tanner’s Heart Alert System. The patient will immediately be transferred to Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton where specially-trained and qualified physicians, nurses and technologists will oversee their care.

Angioplasty and stenting can also be used to treat other vascular disease, such as peripheral artery disease (PAD).