By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
Gadsden Regional Medical Center has gained a new cardiothoracic surgeon. Dr. Daniel McCoy now works with GRMC staff to operate on a variety of heart and lung related diseases.
He has brought with him the know-how to perform a less invasive surgery to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms, which he refers to as “silent killers.”
The abdominal aorta provides blood to the lower half of the body. With this sort of aneurysm, the aorta expands or bulges, and can rupture or burst, causing severe internal bleeding and sometimes death.
Risk factors include smoking, family history, high blood pressure and being a male over 60 years of age.
Symptoms can be harder to spot, but the aneurysms can be detected with an ultrasound, which is recommended for people with one or more of these risk factors.
Before, surgeries to fix this health issue would have involved a cut all the way down the abdomen. With endovascular stent grafts, which Dr. McCoy brought to Gadsden, two smaller incisions are used.
The majority of what Dr. McCoy and his partner Dr. Terry Robinson do is heart bypass surgery, a topic that Dr. McCoy spoke about at the Gadsden Regional’s annual Go Red event on February 10.
Dr. McCoy recommends that anyone experiencing heart attack symptoms, including shortness of breath, chest pain, pain that radiates to the arm, jaw or back, nausea and passing out, get them checked out by a doctor.
“The best thing for patients is if they are having problems to get them investigated,” said Dr. McCoy. “Obviously, not everyone who has these symptoms is having a heart attack; however, the penalty for missing a heart attack is huge.”
Dr. McCoy joined Dr. Robinson’s practice after covering for Dr. Robinson’s previous partner after he left.
“He (Dr. Robinson) has a long history of good quality and good outcomes,” said Dr. McCoy.
Dr. McCoy attended the University of Virginia, and he then attended the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dr. McCoy moved to Gadsden from Atlanta. He has three children. He enjoys playing golf and traveling.