Physicians are now providing an innovative cardiac catheterization technique that reduces recovery time and bleeding, and may provide a less stressful option for some patients needing the procedure. Called radial artery access, the procedure uses arteries in the wrist for inserting the catheter into the heart.

In standard cardiac catheterization procedures, patients must lie flat for hours while a needle and thin catheter are introduced into the artery in their groin. The catheter is then threaded up through the body into the vessels of the heart. After the procedure, patients must remain horizontal and immobile for hours, and may have some pain and bruising at the puncture site for several days.

At Cooper, skilled practitioners offer appropriate candidates the option of having their cardiac catheterization performed with access through the wrist, via the radial artery, eliminating the need for lying flat and motionless for long periods.

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Research shows that we search for the most experienced physicians. However, convenience plays a key role in our selection of healthcare providers and facilities. Whether searching for a primary care physician, a heart specialist or a physical therapy center, most of us hope to find quality doctors and healthcare services that are close to where we live or to where we work.

This year, that search can be easily met at Cooper’s expanded physician practices in the suburban tri-county area.

From family medicine to obstetrics and gynecology, and from orthopaedics to medical specialties, Cooper University Hospital’s University Physicians have begun to see patients at new and improved locations in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

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Heart Disease. Heart Failure. Heart Attack. Cardiac Arrest. Exactly what do all these terms mean and how do they differ?

A Cooper cardiologist explains: “Heart disease is an umbrella term for a number of complex problems affecting the heart muscle, the blood vessels in the heart, and the veins and arteries leading to and from the heart. While all of the many types of heart disease differ, one can think of them in a simplified way as conditions that affect the rhythm and blood-flow of the heart,” said Perry J. Weinstock, M.D., Head of the Division of Cardiovascular Disease at Cooper University Hospital.

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