Acute Cardiac Care - Division of Cardiovascular Medicine ::

Acute Cardiac Care

Using a collaborative approach, the 34-bed combined Duke University Hospital-Durham Veterans Affairs CCU system provides integrated care for patients with acute cardiovascular disease, including:

Acute myocardial infarction
Unstable angina
Serious cardiac arrhythmia
Acute pulmonary edema
Severe congestive heart failure
Pulmonary embolism
Pericardial tamponade
Dissecting aneurysm
Post-cardiac arrest

A patient care team works together to devise an individual care plan for each patient. Each plan combines the perspectives of each member of the team, which includes faculty, nurses, house staff, respiratory therapists, patient resource managers, and dieticians.

In 2005, the DUH CCU was recognized with the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, awarded by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses for exhibiting the highest quality standards in nurse recruitment and retention, patient outcomes, staff training, and healthy work environments.

Acute MI Hotline

The acute myocardial infarction hotline enables referring physicians to contact a Duke cardiologist directly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With one phone call, this hotline activates the Cardiac Care Unit and necessary transportation for a patient having an acute heart attack.

For more information about gaining access to the hotline, contact Jenny C. Underwood, RN, BSN, CCRN at 919-419-5030 or under016@mc.duke.edu.

Clinical studies

CCU faculty lead and participate in clinical trials that define the evidence base for practice. Recent examples include:

The SYNERGY (Superior Yield of the New Strategy of Enoxaparin, Revascularization and Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors) trial, which enrolled 10,027 patients at 457 sites in 12 countries
The OASIS 5 (Organization to Assess Strategies for Ischemic Syndromes) trial, which enrolled 20,000 patients and established new anticoagulant regimen for the management of ACS
The EARLY ACS trial, which is enrolling more than 10,000 patients to evaluate the clinical benefits of early Eptifibatide in the treatment of patients with acute coronary syndrome

As the CCU team integrates clinical findings into patient management, it monitors progress through a number of quality measures, including the CRUSADE national quality improvement initiative, led by Duke faculty.

Faculty

Christopher B. Granger, MD Director

L. Kristin Newby, MD Co-director
John H. Alexander, MD
Richard C. Becker, MD
Robert M. Califf, MD

Pamela S. Douglas, MD
Robert A. Harrington, MD
James G. Jollis, MD
Kenneth W. Mahaffey, MD
Daniel B. Mark, MD

E. Magnus Ohman, MD
Eric D. Peterson, MD
Matthew T. Roe, MD