Reducing Risk, Improving Rhythm: Treating Atrial Fibrillation

Diagnosing a heart condition often requires a combination of cardiovascular diagnostic and screening tests. These advanced tests can often determine the existence, type and severity of heart disease.

At Missouri Baptist Medical Center, our Cardiac Diagnostics Center is equipped with advanced technology and expertly trained staff to conducts these tests. Your test results will be evaluated by a board-certified cardiologist on staff at MoBap and discussed with your physician to tailor a treatment plan for your specific condition.

When Tina needed a new mitral valve, she benefited from BJC HealthCare’s collaborative approach to care that connected her with a multidisciplinary team of heart specialists. Her journey included seamless coordination between medical teams at two BJC HealthCare facilities: Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Missouri Baptist Medical Center (MoBap).

At the Washington University Heart Failure Center at Missouri Baptist, we use a team approach to develop an individualized plan of care for you to manage your disease.

Todd Stewart, MD, is no stranger to critically ill patients and life-saving procedures. As a spinal neurosurgeon and chief of neurosurgery at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, it’s all in a day’s work. But it came as a shock when he suffered a life-threatening heart attack last year.

On December 6, 2022, Missouri Baptist Medical Center performed its 1,000^th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

“We are proud to reach this milestone,” says Michael Mauney, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon on staff at Missouri Baptist. “MoBap was among the first medical centers in the nation to adopt this procedure following FDA approval in Fall 2011.”

TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure for replacing a stenotic (tight) aortic valve in which the aortic valve narrows, reducing blood flow from the heart to the aorta. This procedure can also replace failed artificial aortic and mitral valves. TAVR is a treatment option to be considered for those with severe aortic stenosis, including many with worn-out surgical valves.

Tom Caspari thought he was too healthy to have a heart attack.

Are you at risk for a heart attack? Learn about your risk factors with our online heart health assessment tool and find help for improving your results.

Lynn’s husband Steve was diabetic and diagnosed with end stage renal disease 11 years ago. Without warning, Steve’s condition turned critical three years ago. Desperate for guidance and strength, Lynn was connected to April and the Palliative Care team at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.

If you have been diagnosed with a heart valve problem, you are not alone.

Did you know that heart attacks have beginnings and these beginning signs occur in more than half of all heart attack patients? Learn the important early signs and symptoms.

As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely available, many people wonder whether it's right for them. BJC HealthCare wants you to have the information you need to make the right decision for yourself and your loved ones.

Although she had lived with a heart condition her entire life, Tina Lybarger Ledyard knew a few months ago that something just wasn’t right. As a nurse and a stroke network consultant, Tina noticed she was feeling more fatigued than usual. Read more here about her diagnosis and how she has renewed energy after heart surgery.

Scott Winder had been having trouble breathing and wasn’t sleeping well. Like many people do, he dismissed the symptoms until one day at work, his suddenly racing heart, sweating and worsening breathing problems sent him to the  Emergency Department at Parkland Health Center in Farmington.

Scott walked through the doors of the emergency room and collapsed.

As a leader in heart care, Missouri Baptist Medical Center’s cardiac specialists partner with rural hospitals and medical helicopter and ambulance services to offer the region’s leading heart attack network, saving heart muscle and lives.

Nathaniel (Nate) Rentz, 63, is alive today thanks to the expertise and coordinated care of medical teams at Progress West Hospital and the advanced cardiac care team at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.

When it came time for LaTisha (Tish) Smith of Belleville, Ill., to tell her family that she was having surgery, the hardest conversation was with her 9-year-old son, Lee.

On Dec. 5, 2017, 57-year-old Ira Schalk began to feel nauseous on his job at a lead mining operation near Viburnum, Mo. For days he had felt tired, but thought it might be the flu. It wasn’t.

Cardiac surgeons at MoBap talk about valve disease and new treatment methods, including minimally invasive surgery.

The new technology at MoBap — robotic magnetic navigation (RMN) — introduces the benefits of robotic precision and safety to cardiac ablation, a common, minimally invasive procedure used to treat arrhythmias

Tasted, tested and analyzed by dietitians at Missouri Baptist Medical Center

Clara Freeman anxiously anticipated attending her oldest granddaughter's beach wedding.

At the Arrhythmia Center at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, we want to help you understand everything there is to know about arrhythmia, especially finding the right treatment just for you. Our goal is to keep you and your heart healthy.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.  There are several risk factors that contribute to heart disease.  Some risk factors, including gender, age and family history are uncontrollable, while other risk factors can be modified with lifestyle changes.  Learn how you can make changes to improve your heart health.

We want to help you understand everything there is to know about arrhythmia, why they occur, how they are diagnosed and treated, and what options may be right for you.