Hands on Heart Event at MMC

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association thanked donors to the nonprofit and showed off the development of medicine and technology Thursday September 27, at the Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and Surgicenter on Garrison Drive.

Sharon Kolli and her daughter, Jhansi, of Murfreesboro looked at human hearts and a brain as Joey Barnett, a pharmacologist with Vanderbilt Medical Center, showed evidence of damage and repair to the heart.

“My lab focuses on valve disease,” Barnett told The Daily News Journal. “We want to be able to grow a valve from a patient’s own cells.”

Kolli, a Murfreesboro resident, said she loved his demonstration with actual valves and hearts.

“I support the American Heart Association and believe in awareness for the community,” she said.

Her father had heart disease.

Katie Mullicane‘s father had five bypasses, but is healthy now. She also came out to the reception.

Vanderbilt cardiologists showed how technology now allows for catheterization and angioplasty of coronary arteries from the wrist instead of through the groin or leg.

Peter Robertson, a cardiologist and specialist in heart rhythm disorders for St. Thomas and Middle Tennessee Medical Center, showed how a catheter ablation uses fast radio waves to speed up heart rhythm.

TriStar Health’s StoneCrest Medical Center and Centennial Medical Center demonstrated an App that can now be used in iPhones so that doctors can see all 10 seconds of an EKG and provides more data than the traditional paper version of an EKG.

It also enables a cardiologist to receive electronic data from an EMT while in a home or on the way to the hospital with a patient.

Technician Joey Forrester with TriStar said this allows the cardiologist at the hospital to interpret the data instead of forcing the EMT to interpret the data.

Murfreesboro Medical Clinic’s family doctor staff was on hand to provide free blood pressure checks during the evening.

“This is a cultivation event for our supporters to connect them to the mission work of the American Heart Association,” said Shey Smith, regional director of AHA. “This is the one event that brings our mission to life.”

Presenting sponsor of the event was Vanderbilt Heart. National HealthCare Corp. was also a sponsor of the Hands on Heart reception.

Click here for original article from DNJ

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