500th PCI Performed at Gwinnett Medical Center

Gwinnett Medical Center achieved yet another milestone related to its expanding heart and vascular services. The 500^th PCI procedure was recently performed at the hospital well ahead of projections. PCI is short for percutaneous coronary intervention, the formal name for coronary angioplasty and stenting. The patient was Carey Merritt, 69, of Ivey, GA, who suffered a heart attack Sept. 21 during a visit to his sister’s home in Loganville. A carpenter, Merritt was helping her with a bathroom renovation. When Merritt arrived by ambulance at GMC-Lawrenceville, it was discovered he had blockages in three of his major coronary arteries.  GMC cardiologists inserted three stents into his arteries in separate procedures over the course of a week. It turns out Merritt’s surgery was the 500^th PCI performed at GMC since it began performing the procedures about six months ago. GMC has campuses in Lawrenceville and Duluth. Merritt thanked the cardiac catherization team after his third PCI procedure. Pictured, l-r, are Julie Weiss, Sandra Dickerson, Carey Merritt, Dr. Jim John, P.J. Eubanks, Clarence Pinkston, and Kelley Harrelson. “If I’d been at home by myself in Ivey,” Meritt said, “I probably would have died in the house. It was a good thing I was at my sister’s. I was in the right place at the right time.”