The Heart Stroke Center opened in February 2004. More than 3,000 chest patients were evaluated in this UT Medical Center Emergency Department facility in 2004.

Patients with acute myocardial infarction usually are taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory as emergencies or admitted to an acute care unit for treatment.

When the etiology of the chest pain is unclear, patients are placed in the Heart Stroke Center where they undergo serial electrocardiograms (also known as ECG or EKG) and blood studies to rule out heart attack (myocardial infarction). If repeat studies are negative and the cause of ongoing pain remains unclear, many patients then undergo radionuclear heart scans, using rubidium isotopes to further assure that pain is not secondary to undiagnosed heart injury or loss of blood supply to the heart. Nearly 1,500 patients underwent such studies at the Heart Stroke Center in 2004.

Click here for further information on stroke.