How is a Heart Attack Diagnosed?

Janice B. Dennis, R.N., B.C., M-CNS, with Cardiovascular Consultants of St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, explains how heart attack is diagnosed and treated. Dennis gives a tour of the cardiac catheterization lab and goes in depth with what a patient in the cath-lab would experience. She breaks down what kind of medication and intervention will be used to treat a heart attack.

A patients symptoms and a physical examination are important parts of diagnosing a heart attack. The time of onset of symptoms and the description of the discomfort, including location, quality and severity, are important in determining how to treat the heart attack. Tests are done to evaluate the cardiac enzymes and an electric cardiogram is used to determine the severity of the attack. A code STEMI (or ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction) is activated when 100% of the artery is occluded. The emergency team, led by a board certified interventional cardiologist, a STEMI registered nursed and a Cath-lab team, works to open the artery as quickly as possible.

In the emergency department, the patient often receives oral antiplatelet medications (such as aspirin and plavix), IV medications (such as Intravenous Heparin and Intravenous Narcotics).

For more information go to www.cardiotabs.com

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• oral antiplatelet medication
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• IV medications
• Intravenous Heparin
• Intravenous Narcotics

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