Monmouth Medical Center Newsletter

February 28, 2011

Special American Heart Month Edition

e-Health LINK

Monmouth Medical Center Observes Cardiac Rehabilitation Week in February

 

CardiacRehab
Oceanport resident Jennie Vozos works out under the supervision of cardiac rehabilitation nurse Carol DeMaio

 

February is dedicated to raising awareness about heart disease and increasing knowledge about prevention, and the annual American Heart Month observance includes a week dedicated to the importance of Heart Failure Management Programs.

 

With the 2011 theme, "Take Your Recovery to Heart," the National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week observance recognizes the role cardiac rehabilitation programs play s in reducing the devastating effects of heart disease and helping millions of patients each year recover from cardiac events and procedures.

 

At Monmouth Medical Center, The Joel Opatut Cardiopuomonary Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program is designed for individuals recovering from heart and lung disease, as well as those seeking services that will help them learn how to improve their cardiovascular health through disease prevention and health promotion.

 

"Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program to help heart patients recover quickly and improve their overall physical, mental and social functioning," says Sharon Holden, administrative director of cardiopulmonary services at Monmouth Medical Center.  "The goal is to stabilize, slow or even reverse the progression of cardiovascular disease, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease, another cardiac event or , or death."

 

Located in the spacious Maysie Stroock Pavilion, Monmouth Medical Center's Joel Opatut Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program features state-of-the-art fitness equipment, including treadmills, arm ergometers, rowing machines and stationary bicycles. The highly specialized staff works closely with each patient and his or her physician in developing individualized exercise treatment plans to meet their needs.programs that meet. Workouts are conducted under the supervision of registered nurses specially trained in coronary and pulmonary care who monitor each person's vital signs to measure the body's response to the exercise.


 

The program is certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), a national, multidisciplinary association dedicated to the improvement of clinical practice, promotion of scientific inquiry, and advancement of education for the benefit of cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation professionals and the patients they serve. Certification recognizes those programs rigorously reviewed by a national board and found to meet the outlined essential requirements for standards of care.


 

To learn more about the Joel Opatut Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program at Monmouth Medical Center, call 732-923-6595.

 

 

 

Monmouth Medical  Introduces Breakthrough Approach 

To Advanced Cardiac Procedure

 
TransradialAccess
Monmouth Medical Center interventional cardiologist Rita Watson, M.D., visits with a patient following a cardiac catheterization performed with a breakthrough approach using an artery in the wrist.
 

  

Monmouth Medical Center has introduced an innovative cardiac catheterization procedure that uses patients' wrists, rather than the groin region, to gain access to blood vessels leading to the heart. 

The procedure, known as transradial catheterization access, provides for a faster overall recovery period for the patient and reduced bleeding, bruising and complications. It is the latest development for Monmouth Medical Center's strong excellent cardiac services program which provides comprehensive noninvasive cardiac testing, interventional cardiology, heart failure management, and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. 

In 2004, Monmouth's state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory took a major step in expanding its cardiac services with the introduction of emergency coronary angioplasty. Today, its cardiac catheterization laboratory is a facility offering the most advanced technology- including transradial catheterization.

"Typically in a cardiac catheterization, the catheter is introduced into the body through the groin's femoral artery and is guided toward the heart," says Monmouth Medical Center interventional cardiologist Rita Watson, M.D. "But one of the biggest benefits of passing the catheter through the radial artery in the wrist rather than femoral artery is that the risk of bleeding is almost completely eliminated."

The femoral approach has been the gold standard for many years, and moving to the newer radial technique requires specialized training and advanced skills, according to Dr. Watson, who is among a relatively small percentage of interventional cardiologists in the U.S. performing the technique. She has performed more than 100 radial access procedures since last May 2010.

"Overall, patients experience higher levels of comfort when radial access is used," she says. "When they are in the recovery area after the procedure, they usually can sit up and walk, while patients receiving the traditional catheterization need to lie completely still on their backs and typically need several hours of bed rest and observation. Thus the new procedure benefits patients with back problems or those who are unable to urinate lying flat."

Cardiac catheterizations can diagnose or evaluate coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects and problems with heart valves as well as diagnose causes of heart failure. They also are performed to open blocked coronary arteries. 

At Monmouth Medical Center, the cardiac catheterization lab's medical team is comprised of highly qualified cardiologists, nurses, technicians and other professionals who possess years of experience in cardiac care.  Dr. Watson, whose addition to this team allowed Monmouth to add peripheral vascular intervention with stent implantation to its roster of catheterization procedures, is the medical director for emergent angioplasty services.

A diplomat e of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases and Interventional Cardiology and a fellow and former officer of the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions, Dr. Watson graduated from Harvard Medical School and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She received her cardiology training at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and was an assistant professor of medicine at New York's Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she was an attending physician in the catheterization lab.  

Dr. Watson says that the timely use of emergent angioplasty is an important treatment approach for heart attack patients.

"The introduction of the cardiac catheterization procedure has been crucial for the field of cardiology, as it allows us to obtain important information about the heart and its vessels in a minimally invasive way," Dr. Watson says. "As a diagnostic test, it allows us to see the heart as it pumps blood, but it also provides a less invasive way to treat certain heart attacks."

Catherine Hanlon, M.D., chair of emergency medicine at Monmouth, points out that before Monmouth's designation as a provider of emergent angioplasty, patients suffering a heart attack who were brought to the hospital were treated with clot-busting drugs to restore normal blood flow, a treatment option that is less effective than angioplasty, or were transferred to another facility to undergo angioplasty. 

"Emergent angioplasty services at Monmouth Medical Center allows for the timely delivery of state-of-the-art cardiovascular care to our large patient population," she says.  

Monmouth opened its cardiac catheterization laboratory in 1997 - filling a void for such services in Monmouth County. 

The introduction of transradial access for emergency angioplasty contributes to significantly strengthening Monmouth Medical Center's leadership position in providing cardiac care, according to Sharon Holden, administrative director of cardiology services. She points to Monmouth's comprehensive outpatient services, including the Joel Opatut  Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Center, designed for those recovering from heart disease as well as those seeking services to help them learn to improve their cardiac health, and the Cardiac Laboratory, offering state-of-the-art diagnostic services to monitor heart health.

"We're  able to offer our community a full range of services - from the minute a patients walks through our doors with the first signs of a heart attack through to their treatment, recovery and rehabilitation," she adds.

For additional information about cardiology services at Monmouth Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, call 732-923-6595.

 

CardiacCathTeam 

Monmouth Medical Center interventional cardiologist Rita Watson, M.D., leads the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab's medical team, which is comprised of highly qualified cardiologists, nurses, technicians and other professionals who possess years of experience in cardiac care. She is shown here with the cath lab's nursing team.

 

 

 

 

 


 

Donation to Monmouth Medical Center Provides Breakthrough Technology to Analyze Heart Sounds  

 IndustryAward

Monmouth Medical Center's respected reputation as a leading teaching hospital has long attracted the best physicians to its professional staff.


Recently, that reputation also inspired a donation of cutting-edge medical equipment so innovative it was honored with both the Popular Science Innovation of the Year and Edison Best New Product awards.


Longtime Monmouth Medical Center supporters Shant and Hilde Hovnanian made the donation of two Bluetooth-enabled stethoscopes, which are powered by the Cardioscan software, to the hospital. The donation was in recognition of the hospital's standing as one of New Jersey's top academic medical centers, as well as a part of their quest to stop sudden cardiac death in our schools.


Cardioscan software aids the health care professional in using the Bang-and-Olufsen designed wireless Littman 3200 stethoscope for the recording, display and analysis of heart sounds and other physiological acoustic signals. A next-generation auscultation, or listening, device featuring Bluetooth technology, Cardioscan wirelessly transfers heart, lung and other body sounds to software for further analysis.


The scope pairs wirelessly with Cardioscan software to allow clinicians to visualize heart murmurs, play recordings at slow speeds to hear more clearly, and save recordings for comparison to future exams.
Teaching hospitals offer advanced care that is not always available at community hospitals, according to Monmouth Medical Center's executive director Frank J. Vozos, M.D., FACS., who notes that the Hovnanians' donation brings another dimension to the hospital's level of care.


"In addition to attracting physicians who are leaders in their fields, teaching hospitals are progressive, and we are committed to offering the state-of-the-art technology that helps maintain our reputation as the region's premier academic medical center," says Dr. Vozos, who trained in general surgery at Monmouth and practiced there for more than 25 years. "We are so grateful to the Hovnanians for this generous donation that has elevated our standing as the region's health care innovator."


Allan Tunkel, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Medicine at Monmouth Medical Center, notes that as a teaching hospital, Monmouth Medical Center will be able to use the Bluetooth technology to let its physicians in training hear in real time what the attending physician is hearing, helping them learn how to diagnose heart murmurs.  Results can also be stored on a PC and be played back at a later time to review findings.


The scope and software together mark a breakthrough in computer-aided auscultation that has the potential to identify those at risk for certain types of heart disease, notes Shant Hovnanian, Chairman and co-Founder of Zargis Medical, the Princeton based company that teamed with Siemens and 3M Corp. to commercialize the technology. Zargis is majority owned by Speedus Corp.


"Zargis is launching a school-focused initiative in February in recognition of American Heart Month, which could eliminate the occurrence of sudden cardiac death in our schools," he says. "In conjunction with area schools and hospitals and with educational support from national non-profit health organizations, we are working to create a template for sports physicals to identify abnormal heart sounds that could be indications for sudden cardiac death."

 Zargis is taking its cue from the American Heart Association 12-step screening process, which may help reduce sudden death in young athletes, he adds.


Zargis Medical was a co-recipient of Popular Science magazine's 2009 "Innovation of the Year" award for its Cardioscan-powered Bluetooth stethoscope. In bestowing the award, Popular Science wrote that the system has the potential to eliminate unnecessary echocardiograms and, even better, catch more of the dangerous murmurs.


Earlier this year, the technology was honored wit the 2010 Edison Best New Product Award, a peer-reviewed honor that symbolizes the drive to remain in the forefront of innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy. In earning the award, the stethoscope beat out the runner up:  Google's Android Smartphone.

 

In addition, Zargis Cardioscan won a "red dot: best of the best" award as part of the internationally renowned "red dot award: product design 2010" competition. The red dot design award, the origins of which go back to 1955, is the largest and most renowned design competition worldwide. In 2009 the competition recorded approximately 12,000 entries from more than 60 nations. Cardioscan and the Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200 are displayed in the red dot design museum in Essen, Germany, which receives more than 120,000 visitors annually.


For additional information about Zargis, visit www.zargis.com.

 

 

  StethoscopeDonation

Allan Tunkel, M.D., Ph.D., seated center, chair of the Department of Medicine at Monmouth, discusses the Bluetooth-enabled electronic stethoscope with Internal Medicine residents, from left, Shailaja Chidella, M.D., and Muhammad Syed, M.D., as Shant and Hilde Hovnanian, who donated two of the electronic stethoscopes and Cardioscan software to Monmouth, look on.

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Quick Links 
Monmouth Medical Center  Program Dedicated to Helping Patients Manage Heart Disease
 
HeartFailureManagementProgram
 
Cardiologist Charles Mattina, M.D., medical director of Monmouth Medical Center's Heart Failure Management Program, and Denise Yaman, the program's experienced advanced practice nurse

  

In the United States, approximately 5 million people are living with heart failure, with more than 550,000 being newly diagnosed every year.

Heart failure is the most common diagnosis of Medicare hospital discharges, and nearly 20 percent of those patients are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge - most commonly a result of a failure to follow a proper diet or medication regimen, or to properly monitor symptoms. Heart failure disease management programs have been shown to improve patient outcomes, reducing the rate of re-hospitalization and improving the patient's quality of life.

At Monmouth Medical Center, the Heart Failure Management Program brings together a multidisciplinary team of heart failure experts to more effectively monitor heart failure patients, and provide interventions to manage symptoms and prevent the need for emergency care or hospital readmission.

"The Heart Failure Management Program is dedicated to helping patients and caregivers become more actively involved in their heart failure care through education, access to a multidisciplinary team, and consistent follow-up with a heart failure professional," says Monmouth Medical Center cardiologist Charles Mattina, M.D., the program's medical director.  "Through this active participation, patients will improve their functionality and quality of life, while reducing the frequency of hospitalizations."

 Participation in the program can begin as an inpatient before hospital discharge or a patient can be referred on an outpatient basis. Patients are initially evaluated by  (APN).

"The program uses a patient-centered care approach to early management of the heart disease process," Dr. Mattina says. "The APN works individually with patients to enhance their understanding of the disease and provide the tools for patients and caregivers to effectively manage the disease process."

Long Branch resident John Angeles, 83, visits the Heart Failure Management Program clinic every other week and says the program has been a great source of support.  A retired Navy Seal who works out three hours a day, seven days a week, he recommends the program to friends and fellow naval retirees.

"They've helped me manage my weight and greatly improve my quality of life," he says. "The staff is attentive, considerate and so knowledgeable. They really take the time to help you in any way possible to make sure you stay healthy."

The Heart Failure Management Program also features a Telehealth monitoring program in collaboration with the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey (VNACJ). The program is designed to help patients receive treatment at home, improve their quality of life, and reduce the likelihood of a trip to the emergency room or re-hospitalization.

Other important components of the Heart Failure Management Program include access to heart failure research trials and social services, clinical nutrition, cardiac rehabilitation and ancillary testing such as lab, non-invasive cardiology and radiology.

"In addition to the APN, the Heart Failure Management Program is supported by a multidisciplinary team comprised of cardiologists, primary care physicians, pharmacists, nutritionists, nurses, social workers and behavioral health professionals. Participation in the program can begin as an inpatient before hospital discharge or a patient can be referred on an outpatient basis," notes Sharon Holden, RN, BSN, RDCS, MPA, administrative director for Cardiopulmonary and Renal Services.

For more information on the Heart Failure Management Program at Monmouth Medical Center, call 732- 923-6702.

 

 

 

 Heart

 

 

Heart Failure at a Glance

 

Heart failure is the heart's inability to pump enough blood to meet the body's oxygen and nutrient demands. Heart failure can be systolic, which is the inability of the heart to contract strongly enough to pump blood forward. It can also be diastolic, reflecting the inability of the heart to relax normally, causing fluid to back up into the lungs. Heart failure can be left-sided, causing fluid to back up into the lungs; or right-sided, causing congestion or fluid backup in the abdomen, legs, and feet.

Heart failure can be acute, an emergency in which a patient develops acute shortness of breath or chest pain. Heart failure can also become chronic, a long-term condition in which the patient experiences persistent symptoms over an extended period of time.

A variety of conditions can lead to the development of heart failure. These include coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and disease of the heart valves. Other conditions that can contribute to the development of heart failure include anemia, an overactive thyroid gland, abnormal electrolytes, cardiac rhythm abnormalities, and diabetes.

Recognizing the signs and symptoms of heart failure is the key to early detection, as they lead a patient to seek medical attention. Signs of left-sided heart failure due to lung congestion include shortness of breath, unexplained cough, reduced urine output, loss of appetite, dizziness and light-headedness, confusion, restlessness and anxiety, and fatigue or weakness. Signs and symptoms of right-sided heart failure include swelling of the feet and legs, abdominal pain, accumulation of fluid in the abdominal area, loss of appetite, nausea, weight gain and weakness. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should seek immediate medical care.

 

 

 
 
  
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