Nationally Recognized, Regionally Proven Heart Care When it comes to your heart, only the best care will do. The Munson Healthcare heart team has provided advanced heart care longer than any other team in northern Michigan. We do more heart procedures than anyone else – and our experience improves yours. Blue Cross Blue Shield designated Munson Medical Center a Blue Distinction® Center+ for demonstrating expertise in delivering safe and effective cardiac care, focusing on cardiac valve surgery, coronary artery bypass graft, and percutaneous coronary interventions. (Learn more about Blue

Heart Services and Specialties Munson Healthcare’s talented cardiology team is the region’s leader in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. We specialize in noninvasive and invasive cardiology, interventional cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology. See below to learn more about our services and specialties. Cardiac Rehab Your cardiologist may recommend Cardiac Rehabilitation to help you return to the highest level of activity and independence possible. Cardiac Rehab is tailored to meet each individual’s needs. Active involvement by you and your family is

Stress Test What is a stress test? A stress test, sometimes called a treadmill test or exercise test, helps your doctor find out how well your heart handles its workload. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more fuel and your heart has to pump more blood. The test can show if there’s a lack of blood supply through the arteries that go to the heart. Taking a stress test also helps your doctor know the kind and level of physical activity that’s right for you. Why do people need stress tests? Doctors use exercise stress tests to find out: If you have an irregular heartbeat. If

Heart Failure Program Munson Medical Center launched a Heart Failure Program in 2013 to help the growing number of people who have heart failure. The clinic’s multidisciplinary approach is very successful in treating heart failure. The heart failure team includes a board-certified heart failure cardiologist, a specially trained nurse practitioner, a nurse specialist, and a pharmacist specializing in the diagnosis and management of heart failure. Heart failure can’t be cured, but it can be treated. Treatment options include: Cardiac rehabilitation Implanted devices Lifestyle changes

Interventional Cardiology Interventional cardiologists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of several types of heart disease using catheter-based treatment. A number of heart procedures can be performed using catheterization. This typically involves inserting a sheath into the femoral artery, radial artery, or any other large peripheral artery or vein, and then inserting a catheter into the heart under X-ray visualization. Primary percutaneous intervention (PCI) is now the gold standard of care for an acute heart attack. This procedure allows our interventional cardiologists to reopen a

Heart Procedures We Perform Caring for Your Most Important Muscle Your heart beats more than 100,000 times per day and 3 billion times in an average lifetime. It is the most important muscle in your body because it pumps life-sustaining blood to all of your vital organs. You simply cannot live without it. For this reason, it is very important that all parts of your heart function properly to maintain good health. Our talented team of heart experts specializes in various techniques and procedures to keep your heart in the best possible condition. See below to learn more: Ablation No one has yet

Ablation What is ablation? No one has yet found the perfect cure for irregular heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation. However, a non-surgical, catheter-based technique called ablation performed at Munson Medical Center has about an 80 percent long-term success rate in eliminating the condition. How is an ablation performed? This procedure takes place in a special hospital room called an Electrophysiology Lab. It takes 2 to 4 hours. A specially-trained cardiologist guides a catheter with an electrode at its tip to the area of heart muscle where the damaged site is located. A mild, painless

Brachytherapy What is brachytherapy? Brachytherapy is a very effective therapy that delivers targeted, high doses of radiation inside a blocked coronary artery where a stent is present. Radiation therapy that targets recurring blockage has two purposes: to treat the blockage itself by killing the cells that have re-blocked the stent, and to prevent further blockage by inhibiting tissue growth. Why does Munson Medical Center offer brachytherapy? Present stent technology is very effective, and most patients can expect good long-term results with drug-eluting stents. However, 5 - 10 percent of

Cardiac Catheterization What is cardiac catheterization? Cardiac catheterization is used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions. During a catheterization, angiograms (X-ray videos), pressure recordings, and other measurements help your cardiologist check for: coronary artery disease (disease in the heart's arteries) valvular heart disease (disease in the heart’s valves) congenital heart disease (heart disease you were born with) other conditions This is one of the most helpful procedures for giving your physician a clear picture of your heart’s overall health. How is it performed? A

CardioMEMS What is CardioMEMS? The CardioMEMS Heart Failure System is the first FDA-approved monitoring device proven to significantly reduce hospital admissions among heart failure patients. Munson Medical Center was one of the first hospitals in the nation to begin offering this innovative, groundbreaking technology in 2015. How does CardioMEMS help? Pulmonary artery pressure starts to increase in heart failure patients one to three weeks before the person notices any changes in symptoms or weight. About 90 percent of patients admitted to the hospital for heart failure have pulmonary