Types
How We Can Help You
A heart attack (myocardial infarction) occurs when oxygenated blood cannot get to the heart. It usually stems from an artery blockage and can lead to permanent damage of the heart muscle and, in some cases, death.
Every day, Stanford’s skilled cardiologists treat and save the lives of people who have heart attacks. We are accredited as a STEMI heart attack receiving center by the American Heart Association (AHA). This designation means that our doctors promptly and seamlessly treat people suffering from a STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction), the most deadly form of heart attack.
After treating a heart attack, our experienced doctors and behavioral psychologists help you prevent future complications and get back to living your life to its fullest.
What We Offer You For Heart Attack
- Nationally recognized expertise in treating heart attacks, with one of the fastest door-to-treatment times in the Bay Area and accreditation from the AHA.
- Precise diagnostic tests that rule out other conditions that mirror heart attacks, like takotsubo cardiomyopathy, so you can receive quick, accurate treatment.
- Rapid, team-based approach that includes the ability to send electrocardiogram (EKG) results from the field so our cardiologists can treat you even faster.
- Advanced treatment options, including the use of stents, medication, and specialized coronary imaging to save lives and help prevent future heart attacks.
- Specialized care for women, including understanding their distinctive symptoms and the unique types of heart attacks they can have, including SCAD and MINOCA.
- Comprehensive lifestyle modification program and support services, including one of the country’s largest psychological support programs for heart patients.
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Visit our online second opinion page to learn more.
Heart Attack Treatment
If you or a loved one experience a heart attack, you can rest assured that Stanford will take care of you. We have a special designation from the AHA because we quickly and effectively treat the most dangerous forms of heart attacks. Our doctors are skilled at diagnosing heart attacks and differentiating them from other similar conditions. This ability helps you get the right treatment quickly.
We have one of the fastest door-to-treatment times in northern California. That means we work rapidly to minimize the time from the moment you enter the emergency room until you receive lifesaving angioplasty (cardiac catheterization to open heart arteries).
At Stanford, we have one of the fastest door-to-balloon times in the Bay Area.
Treatment Overview
Specialized Care for Women
During a heart attack
We may use one treatment technique or a combination of approaches to stabilize you during a heart attack. Our treatment may involve:
Cardiac medications
Your doctor may prescribe one medication or a combination of medications to help:
- Widen blood vessels
- Improve blood flow
- Regulate your heart rate
- Lower blood pressure
- Prevent blood clotting
A surgeon or interventional cardiologist may conduct procedures or surgeries to keep the heart pumping or to clear the arteries of any blockages, including:
- Balloon angioplasty: The interventional cardiologist inserts a special catheter (thin, flexible tube) with a balloon tip into the blocked blood vessel. The balloon inflates to compress the fatty tissue (plaque) against the vessel’s walls and widen the opening for improved blood flow.
- Stent: After an angioplasty, the interventional cardiologist places a small coil, called a stent, into the blood vessel to keep it open.
- Atherectomy: This procedure removes calcified plaque from a blood vessel by shaving it with tiny rotating blades or vaporizing it using a laser on the end of the catheter.
- Left ventricular assist device (LVAD): If your heart has suffered extensive damage, we may implant a mechanical pump near your heart. This device will help the left ventricle (the heart’s main pumping chamber) pump blood to the rest of the body.
After Your Heart Attack
After you recover from a heart attack, your provider may prescribe medications and talk to you about making healthy lifestyle changes. Your long-term care may include:
Your care plan may also include one or a combination of the following therapies:
Medications
Certain drugs have been shown to help the heart recover faster and reduce the risk of another heart attack. Your doctor will discuss the optimal medical regimen with you.
Comprehensive Support Services
Our behavioral psychologists and other specialists in our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program support you in making these changes. They, along with your provider, meet with you regularly. The psychologists can also help you overcome depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or anxiety that you may experience after having a heart attack.
Lifestyle Modifications
In addition to prescribing medication, your provider will discuss building healthy lifestyle habits with you, which can help prevent another heart attack. You may need to:
- Eat more healthfully
- Lose weight
- Limit sodium intake
- Stop smoking
- Reduce stress
- Start exercising
At Stanford, we understand that heart attacks may affect women differently than men. The specialists at our Women’s Heart Health Clinic recognize the unique concerns women face, including:
Symptoms
Women often have subtler heart attack symptoms – and more of them – than men do. Most women will experience chest pain, but it may not be the most prominent symptom.
Other symptoms that women should look out for include:
- Pain in the jaw, neck, shoulder, or back
- Pain radiating in either arm (not just the left)
- Shortness of breath
- Extreme fatigue
- Upset stomach, nausea, or vomiting
Diagnosis
It’s common for doctors to overlook heart attacks in women because of their different symptoms. Also, women may not have the large plaque blockages that men do, so it may be harder to detect what is causing the heart attack right away. At Stanford, we actively recognize the symptoms women experience and use the latest diagnostic tools to quickly diagnose them so they can begin treatment.
Timing
In the past, a heart attack was considered to be a “man’s disease.” Although we now know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, many doctors still dismiss women with chest pain. At Stanford, we immediately give both women and men with heart attack symptoms an electrocardiogram (EKG), and both populations have the same rapid door-to-treatment time.
Severity
Women with heart attacks tend to be older than men, which means they may be more likely to have serious complications or die from the heart attack. Our cardiologists understand this issue so they work to prevent complications, like internal bleeding, and monitor women closely with follow-up care. We also understand that young women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men of the same age. We take heart attacks in young women very seriously and use advanced techniques to rapidly diagnose and treat them.
Treatment approach
At Stanford, our cardiologists mostly use radial artery catheterization (inserting a tube into the artery of the wrist) to diagnose and treat a heart attack, as opposed to catheterization in the groin artery. This method can help people recover more quickly and can minimize internal bleeding, a potentially dangerous heart attack complication that is more common in women than men.
Some centers are hesitant to use the radial approach with women because they have smaller, more delicate vessels in their wrists. However, at Stanford, we perform this less invasive procedure, which provides better results, on both women and men.
Hormones
Women who are on hormone therapy and also have atherosclerosis may be more likely to have a heart attack. Some women may have a unique type of heart attack related to their hormone therapy. For women who are on hormone therapy and have atherosclerosis or have had a heart attack, our cardiologists thoroughly discuss the risks and benefits of continuing with hormone therapy. We work with specialists at our Gynecology Clinic help women find alternative treatments while living their best possible quality of life.
During a heart attack
We may use one treatment technique or a combination of approaches to stabilize you during a heart attack. Our treatment may involve:
Cardiac medications
Your doctor may prescribe one medication or a combination of medications to help:
- Widen blood vessels
- Improve blood flow
- Regulate your heart rate
- Lower blood pressure
- Prevent blood clotting
A surgeon or interventional cardiologist may conduct procedures or surgeries to keep the heart pumping or to clear the arteries of any blockages, including:
- Balloon angioplasty: The interventional cardiologist inserts a special catheter (thin, flexible tube) with a balloon tip into the blocked blood vessel. The balloon inflates to compress the fatty tissue (plaque) against the vessel’s walls and widen the opening for improved blood flow.
- Stent: After an angioplasty, the interventional cardiologist places a small coil, called a stent, into the blood vessel to keep it open.
- Atherectomy: This procedure removes calcified plaque from a blood vessel by shaving it with tiny rotating blades or vaporizing it using a laser on the end of the catheter.
- Left ventricular assist device (LVAD): If your heart has suffered extensive damage, we may implant a mechanical pump near your heart. This device will help the left ventricle (the heart’s main pumping chamber) pump blood to the rest of the body.
After Your Heart Attack
After you recover from a heart attack, your provider may prescribe medications and talk to you about making healthy lifestyle changes. Your long-term care may include:
Your care plan may also include one or a combination of the following therapies:
Medications
Certain drugs have been shown to help the heart recover faster and reduce the risk of another heart attack. Your doctor will discuss the optimal medical regimen with you.
Comprehensive Support Services
Our behavioral psychologists and other specialists in our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program support you in making these changes. They, along with your provider, meet with you regularly. The psychologists can also help you overcome depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or anxiety that you may experience after having a heart attack.
Lifestyle Modifications
In addition to prescribing medication, your provider will discuss building healthy lifestyle habits with you, which can help prevent another heart attack. You may need to:
- Eat more healthfully
- Lose weight
- Limit sodium intake
- Stop smoking
- Reduce stress
- Start exercising
close Treatment Overview
At Stanford, we understand that heart attacks may affect women differently than men. The specialists at our Women’s Heart Health Clinic recognize the unique concerns women face, including:
Symptoms
Women often have subtler heart attack symptoms – and more of them – than men do. Most women will experience chest pain, but it may not be the most prominent symptom.
Other symptoms that women should look out for include:
- Pain in the jaw, neck, shoulder, or back
- Pain radiating in either arm (not just the left)
- Shortness of breath
- Extreme fatigue
- Upset stomach, nausea, or vomiting
Diagnosis
It’s common for doctors to overlook heart attacks in women because of their different symptoms. Also, women may not have the large plaque blockages that men do, so it may be harder to detect what is causing the heart attack right away. At Stanford, we actively recognize the symptoms women experience and use the latest diagnostic tools to quickly diagnose them so they can begin treatment.
Timing
In the past, a heart attack was considered to be a “man’s disease.” Although we now know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, many doctors still dismiss women with chest pain. At Stanford, we immediately give both women and men with heart attack symptoms an electrocardiogram (EKG), and both populations have the same rapid door-to-treatment time.
Severity
Women with heart attacks tend to be older than men, which means they may be more likely to have serious complications or die from the heart attack. Our cardiologists understand this issue so they work to prevent complications, like internal bleeding, and monitor women closely with follow-up care. We also understand that young women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men of the same age. We take heart attacks in young women very seriously and use advanced techniques to rapidly diagnose and treat them.
Treatment approach
At Stanford, our cardiologists mostly use radial artery catheterization (inserting a tube into the artery of the wrist) to diagnose and treat a heart attack, as opposed to catheterization in the groin artery. This method can help people recover more quickly and can minimize internal bleeding, a potentially dangerous heart attack complication that is more common in women than men.
Some centers are hesitant to use the radial approach with women because they have smaller, more delicate vessels in their wrists. However, at Stanford, we perform this less invasive procedure, which provides better results, on both women and men.
Hormones
Women who are on hormone therapy and also have atherosclerosis may be more likely to have a heart attack. Some women may have a unique type of heart attack related to their hormone therapy. For women who are on hormone therapy and have atherosclerosis or have had a heart attack, our cardiologists thoroughly discuss the risks and benefits of continuing with hormone therapy. We work with specialists at our Gynecology Clinic help women find alternative treatments while living their best possible quality of life.
close Specialized Care for Women
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials evaluate new medical approaches, devices, drugs, and other treatments. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may be eligible to participate in open clinical trials.
Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
What is Heart Attack?
Our Clinics
Our doctors use a catheter (a flexible tube) to perform minimally invasive procedures, such as cardiac catheterization, to diagnose and treat heart attacks.
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Stanford, CA 94305
Phone: 650-725-2621 Getting Here
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