Leading the Way in Heart Care

The Heart Center of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is a national leader in providing cardiac care and surgery.  Wake Forest Baptist cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, nurse specialists and researchers work as a team to address the full scope of heart problems.  Working in state-of-the-art facilities, using some of the world’s most sophisticated technology, these experts are on the leading edge of diagnosis, treatment and discovery.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical has been performing cardiac surgery since the 1940s and helped pioneer open-heart surgery in North Carolina. Through the years, Medical Center cardiologists and heart surgeons have made major contributions in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

Nationwide, physicians with the Heart Center were:

• the first to report the successful use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect blockages and measure flow in the coronary arteries. With additional research, MRI may become a new tool for diagnosing heart disease.
• the first to use MRI stress testing as an alternative for patients unable to undergo echocardiography testing.
• among the first to test new types of pacemakers for treating congestive heart failure. These devices coordinate the pumping action of the heart to improve efficiency.
• among the first to test a new dual-chamber defibrillator for patients with rhythm problems in both the upper and lower chambers of the heart. The conventional treatment -- a defibrillator for the lower chamber and medication -- is only effective in half of patients.
• among the first to use tiny ultrasound probes inside the heart's blood vessels to get an up-close look and help improve the treatment of blockages that can cause heart attacks.
• among the first to use arteries, rather than veins, to bypass blocked blood vessels leading to the heart. Heart surgeons believe the change will result in vessels that stay open longer.
• among the first to offer a new "natural" valve replacement to patients with diseased or damaged aortic heart valves. With the new valve, patients don't have to take anti-clotting medication for a lifetime.
• among the first to perform a new procedure to replace damaged mitral heart valves with frozen human valves. The procedure is an option for younger patients whose mitral valves cannot be repaired. Previously, these patients received mechanical valves.
• among the first to offer an outpatient surgery for babies born with a heart defect called patent ductus arteriosus. The new procedure is just as effective as the major open-chest procedure it replaced.
• among the first to implant lower-voltage pacemakers that last substantially longer than previous models. Being leaders in their fields means that Heart Center physicians can offer their patients the very latest and best preventive measures, diagnostic tests and treatments for heart disease.