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Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
As George Lehman, 77, of Brick
waited for his routine visit with
Todd Cohen, D.O., at Shore
Cardiology Consultants, the beads of
sweat forming on his head didn't seem
like anything more than anxiety about his
appointment. But soon, chest pain accompanied
the sweating.
With a history of heart problems dating
back to 1992, George is no stranger to the
signs of a heart attack, so he alerted the
front desk to his pain.
Testing began immediately. While the
nurse was taking George's vital signs, his
chest pain grew from mild to intense.
George's blood pressure was normal, but
his electrocardiogram test indicated that
he was having a heart attack.
As the nurses called the paramedics,
Dr. Cohen called his partner, Ali Moosvi,
M.D., an interventional cardiologist, to
prepare him for George's arrival at the
Chest Pain Center at Ocean Medical
Center. "When he arrived, everything
was in perfect order for George to get
the quick treatment he needed to
improve his chance of surviving this heart
attack," says Dr. Moosvi. "It only took
five to seven minutes for George to get
from the Emergency Department to the
Catheterization Lab."
During the catheterization,
Dr. Moosvi inserted a long, flexible
tube into one of George's arteries and
guided it to his heart, revealing a complete
blockage of a stent previously
implanted in one of his arteries.
Within 39 minutes of his arrival at the
Emergency Department, George had been
brought to the lab, diagnosed, and had his
vessel surgically reopened by emergency
angioplasty. Studies show that the shorter
the time between the patient's arrival and
the reopening of the artery, the better the
outcome. Guidelines recommend that this
window of time be less than 90 minutes.
"Time is muscle with this disease. The
longer it takes to open the artery, the more
severe the muscle damage. The more
severe the damage, the more likely the
chance of developing heart failure and the
less likely the chance of survival."
A patient of Shore Cardiology
Consultants for 15 years, George knows
he's in good care with Dr. Moosvi,
Dr. Cohen, and the rest of the medical
staff. "They seem to have saved my life a
number of times. And I know they saved
my life that day," says George.
"I was at the right place at the right time."
 – Beth Chunn
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