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URMC » Quality » Ratings » Heart Attack

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• Choose Us
• Commitment to Quality
• Quality Measures
  • Heart Attack
    • Overview
    • Aspirin on admission
    • Beta blocker on admission
    • Aspirin at discharge
    • Beta blocker at discharge
    • ACEI or ARB at discharge for patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction
    • Smoking cessation
    • Availability of PTCA
    • Inpatient mortality for heart attacks
    • Length of stay for heart attack patients
    • Lipid-lowering therapy at discharge
    • Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol assessment
  • Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA)
  • Coronary Bypass Surgery (CABG)
  • Heart Failure
  • Pneumonia
  • Robotic Prostatectomy
  • Stroke
• Glossary of Terms

 

Availability of Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA)

At Strong Memorial Hospital, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is performed to open blocked coronary arteries caused by coronary artery disease (CAD) and to restore arterial blood flow to the heart tissue without open-heart surgery. The term percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a more general term that includes additional artery opening procedures and devices.

Certain patients will benefit from rapid reperfusion (re-entry of blood into area where flow has been reduced) through the use of PTCA. PTCA is a procedure that uses a balloon tipped catheter-tube, which is inserted into a leg artery and then advanced to the heart in order to open blocked arteries that cause heart attacks.

According to The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for The Management of Patients with Acute Heart Attack, PTCA may be used as an alternative to thrombolytic therapy (medication that disrupts blood clot formation) in patients where this medication is contraindicated. PTCA may also be used in addition to thrombolytic therapy.