Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Services

Why Choose the Baptist Heart Institute?

Baptist Memorial Health Care understands the importance of high-quality heart and vascular diagnostics, treatment and prevention. That’s why we established the Baptist Heart Institute.

The best part about this leading-edge facility is the convenience. The institute combines all heart services into one location to support high-quality care, research, education and data management.

Heart Disease Treatment at Baptist

Our team of trained cardiologists and surgeons deliver advanced diagnostics and treatment to help Mid-South patients achieve and maintain heart health. Learn about some of the many heart and vascular conditions we treat at Baptist.

• Aneurysm: a bulging or a weakness in the wall of a blood vessel
• Angina: chest pain that can extend to the left arm, shoulder or jaw
• Arrhythmias: irregular heartbeat (too fast or too slow, or skipping beats), including atrial fibrillation
• Cardiomyopathy: diseases in coronary muscle tissue, including an enlarged heart
• Coronary heart disease: coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and carotid artery disease
• Heart attack: (myocardial infarction), an interruption of the blood supply to the heart’s muscle tissue
• Heart failure: weakened or damaged heart muscle causing the heart to work too hard to keep up with the body’s blood demands
• Peripheral artery and peripheral vascular disease: Narrowing of arteries that reduce blood flow to your limbs
• Stroke (including ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)): occurs when a blocked blood vessel deprives areas of the brain of oxygen. Because this problem ends up affecting the brain, neurologists may collaborate with the heart specialist on stroke cases
• Valvular heart disease: heart valve damage caused by rheumatic fever, infections, connective tissue disorders, radiation treatments or medications

Heart and Vascular Diagnostic Tests

Diagnosis is the first step in treating heart disease. The following are just some of the tests available at the Baptist Heart Institute.

• Catheterization procedures and tests
  These procedures help cardiologists diagnose and treat certain cardiovascular conditions, such as disease of the heart muscle, valves or coronary arteries. During cardiac catheterization, a long thin tube called a catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in your groin, neck or arm and threaded through your blood vessels to your heart.
• Electrophysiology procedures and tests
  Electrophysiology (EP) focuses on the electrical system of your heart. Baptist heart doctors perform procedures such as cardioversion, EP studies and ablations and tilt table tests. They also implant permanent pacemakers, internal cardiac defibrillators, biventricular pacemakers and defibrillators and internal loop recorders.

Learn more about heart and vascular diagnostics offered at Baptist

Baptist Heart Fund

The Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation's Heart Fund provides financial support for initiatives that benefit heart patients and their care. Donations are earmarked for research, equipment, staff education and other patient-related needs. So far, the fund has provided thousands of dollars for equipment for heart patients, including the HeartMate® left ventricular assist devices that keep heart transplant patients alive while they await donor hearts.

Heart and Vascular Care Locations

Several Baptist Memorial hospitals offer a wide range of heart services. Learn more about the heart care our hospitals offer.