Heart Attack

When a heart attack happens, it is vital to receive fast, expert care to limit heart muscle damage. The following treatments may be given at the hospital:

• Medications like aspirin, nitroglycerin, clot-busters (also called thrombolytics), blood thinners, and beta-blockers work in different ways to decrease blood pressure and relieve the strain on the heart caused by a heart attack.
• Angioplasty with stenting, also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is a minimally invasive procedure that helps re-establish blood flow to the heart as quickly as possible. 
• Heart bypass surgery, also called coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), reroutes blood flow around a blocked coronary artery. 
• Hybrid surgery combines the best of angioplasty and bypass surgery to decrease recovery time.

We want to help you improve your heart health and resume normal activities as soon as possible after a heart attack. Most people can return to work after two to six weeks, depending on your heart attack severity.

Medications 
Medicines can help your heart recover, protect it from future damage, and optimize your overall heart function.

Mental and Emotional Support 
It’s common for people to experience anxiety, depression, and other types of emotional distress after a heart attack. Our psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors offer a range of services to support your mental health.

Cardiac Rehabilitation
Duke’s cardiac rehab program offers education and resources –- like nutrition counseling, exercise instruction, stress management, smoking cessation programs, and more -- to overcome the effects of a heart attack, establish long-term lifestyle changes, and boost your heart health.

Our cardiac rehab team includes nurses, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, a social worker, and a registered dietitian. We closely monitor your vital signs during rehab sessions to ensure your activity is safe and effective.

Leaders in Prompt Heart Attack Treatment
Duke helped develop and lead a statewide program that shortens the time between heart attack evaluation by emergency responders and receiving crucial treatment in a hospital. This program, now known as Mission: Lifeline, was adopted by the American Heart Association and is credited with helping reduce death by about 25% in those experiencing out-of-hospital heart attacks.

Nationally Recognized for Heart Attack Care
Duke University Hospital is recognized by the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines initiative for cardiac care and for its role in improving the quality of care of people who experience life-threatening heart attacks.

More than 5,500 Cardiac Cath Procedures Performed Annually 
Research shows that hospitals and doctors who perform more surgeries tend to have better outcomes. Our cardiologists perform more than 5,500 cardiac catheterizations each year, including interventional procedures like angioplasty and stent placements to open blocked arteries.

Heart Bypass Surgery for High-Risk Patients
We perform heart bypass surgery in people who have high risk, complex conditions, multiple blockages, or blockages in difficult-to-reach locations. Even if you’ve been turned away at other centers, we may be able to offer treatment options for you.

More Surgical Options
Our surgeons perform minimally invasive techniques when appropriate. During heart bypass surgery, we can use small incisions to harvest veins, resulting in less scarring and faster recovery.

Access to New Treatments
As a Duke patient, you may be eligible to participate in clinical trials that are testing new heart attack treatments and surgical techniques before they are widely available.