[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/10\/altoona-cath-lab\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/10\/altoona-cath-lab\/","headline":"UPMC Altoona\u2019s Heart-Saving Cath Lab Is a Team Effort","name":"UPMC Altoona\u2019s Heart-Saving Cath Lab Is a Team Effort","description":"Sheri Crownover knows all too well what a heart attack feels like. She experienced her first major heart attack at age 46 and another a year later. Both times, she woke up with severe chest pain and nausea, and was flown to UPMC Altoona for an emergency heart catheterization. Over the past 7 years, the […]","datePublished":"2020-10-30","dateModified":"2020-10-15","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/heart-vascular","name":"Heart and Vascular Institute","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/heart-vascular","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/heart-and-vascular-institute\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/iStock-1046447804.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/iStock-1046447804.jpg","height":332,"width":754},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/10\/altoona-cath-lab\/","about":["Health Topics A-Z","Heart and Vascular Health"],"wordCount":506,"articleBody":"Sheri Crownover knows all too well what a heart attack feels like. She experienced her first major heart attack at age 46 and another a year later. Both times, she woke up with severe chest pain and nausea, and was flown to UPMC Altoona for an emergency heart catheterization.Over the past 7 years, the Millcreek resident has had 5 separate procedures to open blocked coronary arteries \u2014 all performed at UPMC Altoona by George Jabbour, MD, an interventional cardiologist and medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab. He also inserted 5 stents to keep blood flowing in her arteries.Sheri, who suffers from coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure, recently returned to UPMC Altoona for another scheduled heart catheterization.\u201cI wouldn\u2019t go anywhere else,\u201d says Sheri, now 53. \u201cBoth times I was flown there, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d make it. But Dr. Jabbour and the cath lab team saved my life \u2014 twice.\u201d\u201cI tell everybody: They are the best,\u201d adds Sheri. \u201cWhy would I go anywhere else?\u201dMinutes MatterHeart muscle will die if blood flow isn\u2019t restored quickly. \u201cWhen you\u2019re having a heart attack, time is muscle. Quick intervention increases your chance of survival and minimizes damage to your heart,\u201d says Dr. Jabbour.At UPMC Altoona, a team of cardiologists, nurses, and technologists is ready to perform life-saving cardiac treatments any time of the day or night.In the United States, the average time for hospitals performing an intervention such as an angioplasty \u2014 a procedure to open narrow or blocked coronary arteries using a thin catheter, or tube, with a balloon at its tip \u2014 is 90 minutes, starting from the moment a patient enters the hospital until the balloon is inflated and blood flow restored. At UPMC Altoona, the cath lab\u2019s \u201cdoor-to-balloon\u201d time averages less than 60 minutes.Experience And ExpertiseAccording to Dr. Jabbour, life-saving interventions are safer when doctors and hospital staff have a higher degree of experience with the procedures. More than 4,000 patients are treated annually in UPMC Altoona\u2019s cath lab, making it the busiest in the region. In addition, the hospital\u2019s partnership with the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute means patients have access to cardiac surgeons and vascular surgeons, who are on call 24\/7 to treat emergencies. \u201cComplications can arise even during scheduled procedures. Without that expertise immediately available, that complication can lead to loss of a limb or loss of life,\u201d says Dr. Jabbour.Cardiac Services AvailableAt the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute at UPMC Altoona, experts offer a full range of services for the diagnosis, treatment, management, and prevention of heart and vascular disease.Interventional cardiology procedures include angioplasty and stenting, as well as the implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators, electrophysiology studies, and radiofrequency ablation. In January, the hospital began using the Impella\u00ae device \u2014 an innovative new intervention in which a tiny pump is inserted during a heart catheterization procedure to provide temporary support by keeping blood circulating in patients with seriously weakened hearts. To learn more about cardiac care at UPMC Altoona, visit UPMC.com\/HVIAltoona."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/\/10\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UPMC Altoona\u2019s Heart-Saving Cath Lab Is a Team Effort","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/10\/altoona-cath-lab\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]