A heart attack, also known as a myocardial infarction, occurs when an area of heart muscle dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen resulting from a blood clot in a coronary artery.
Patients who come to one of our hospitals because of a suspected heart attack or chest pain benefit from a series of specialized procedures designed to accelerate diagnosis and treatment. Treatment may include administration of Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA) drugs and/or primary coronary angioplasty.
TPA is a blood clot-dissolving drug that is administered intravenously to interrupt a heart attack and restore blood flow. According to research reported by the American Heart Association, however, the most effective and safest emergency procedure is to immediately perform a primary angioplasty. More than 1,000 Crozer-Keystone patients have been treated with primary angioplasty within the first few hours of a life-threatening heart attack.