Heart Attack

• How do I know if I'm having a heart attack? And what should I do if I think I'm having one?
• How has interventional cardiology changed the treatment of heart attack?
• Does PCI prevent heart attack?
• What is the significance about the 30th anniversary of interventional cardiology?

Interventional Cardiology

• What is interventional cardiology?
• What do interventional cardiologists do?
• How has the interventional cardiology changed the treatment of heart attack?
• What are the benefits to patients of interventional procedures like angioplasty or stents?
• How can I find out if a hospital does angioplasty?
• Which patients are candidates for PCI?
• How will my life be improved after an angioplasty or stent procedure?
• How will I feel after an angioplasty or stent procedure?
• What is PCI?

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  Some hospitals cannot perform angioplasty. Dr. Morton J. Kern, Long Beach VA Hospital University of California, Irvine, explains how to find one that can.

Latest on Minimally Invasive Approaches to Treating Heart Valve Disease

• What are the most common heart valve problems?
• If I need a heart valve repaired or replaced, can I choose a percutaneous (catheter-based, non-surgical) procedure, rather than go through open-heart surgery?
• Are there percutaneous procedures to replace a diseased aortic valve?
• Is there a less invasive approach to repair narrowed aortic valves?
• Are there percutaneous treatments to repair leaking mitral valves?
• Is there a percutanreous approach to replacing the mitral valve?

"Stable" Chest Pain (Angina)

• If I'm just having stable chest pain, should my doctor recommend drug therapy or an interventional procedure like angiplasty?
• Are drugs as effective as PCI for patients with stable coronary artery disease?

Stents

• How safe is the use of stents?
• Why would my doctor recommend a drug-eluting stent over a bare metal stent?
• How serious is the risk of blood clots? What can I do to avoid a clot if I receive a stent?
• Should I have concerns about getting a stent?
• Why must I take my anti-clotting medications after having a drug-eluting stent implanted?