Cardiology Overview

Cardiologist

Cardiology is a sub-specialty of internal medicine. Thus, a doctor who intends to practice cardiology first goes through the internal medicine residency program, then attends fellowships to receive the more specialized training and practice in the kind of cardiology one needs to practice.

Cardiologists supply health care to prevent, diagnose and treat ailments and disorders of one’s heart and cardiovascular system, like the arteries. There are several various kinds Forms of cardiology 1 may elect to practice according to their interests and skill sets, and the sort of work they ‘d want to do, since the specialty cardiology encompasses so many different kinds of disorders and processes. A cardiologist isn’t a surgeon.

The doctor must become expert in these abilities and techniques:

  • Handling acute and chronic congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction as well as other acute ischemic syndromes, persistent and acute arrhythmias, preoperative and postoperative patients, cardiac graft patients, geriatric patients with cardiovascular disease
  • diagnostic techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging, rapidly computed tomography, positron emission tomography

What sorts of tests do cardiologists use?

  • Cardiac catheterization and angiography
  • Echocardiography (echo)
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)
  • Electrophysiology study (EP study)
  • Holter monitor and occasion recorder
  • MUGA scan
  • Stress testing
  • Thallium and sestamibi (Cardiolite) scans
  • Tilt Table Testing
  • Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)
  • Ultrafast CT scan
  • Cardiac MRI
  • ecg
  • cardio 1
  • Echocardiography

What is an ECG?

ECG

The electrocardiogram, or ECG, is the most typical test used to measure one’s heart. The ECG is extensively used since it is in a position to screen for a range of cardiac abnormalities, ECG machines are plentiful in most medical facilities, along with the evaluation is easy to do, risk free and cost-effective.

EKG is the usual abbreviation employed for electrocardiography, which is a test made to measure the efficacy and efficacy of a pulse. You can also see the evaluation referred to as an ECG, that is another acronym employed for the evaluation. The electrical impulses are measured by the test used to contract the heart. These pulsations are recorded on paper and reveal the time of the muscle contraction.

How is the ECG performed?

You’ll lie on an examination table, and 10 electrodes are attached for your arms, legs, and torso. The electrodes detect the electrical impulses produced by your heart, and conduct them to the ECG machine. The ECG machine generates a graph (the ECG tracing) of those cardiac electric nerve impulses. The electrodes are subsequently removed. The evaluation takes significantly less than 5 minutes to perform.

There are three parts to the EKG results:

1. The P wave reveals the time in the the upper chambers of one’s heart, the atria.

2. The following wave follows a short level line and reveals the time in the low heart chambers, or the ventricles. This wave is known as the QRS complex.

3. The ventricles are shown by the final wave, called the T wave, returning to your resting state.
When assessing your EKG, your physician can tell in case your heart is contracting too slowly or too rapidly. Clues may be also revealed by the test to these:

  • An unusual pulse or unusual rhythm in only among the heart’s chambers
  • Constricted arteries, causing decreased blood circulate to the heart muscle
  • A diminished heart or heart malfunction
  • A flaw in one’s heart, that has been truly present at birth or was caused by means of an injury.
  • Swelling in the thin membrane that encloses the heart
  • EKGs can be used to diagnose cardiac arrest or heart attack.

Request your physician to talk about the outcomes of your evaluation instantly, since the results are typically accessible just as they have been performed. When you got any questions about your results, don’t forget to speak up. Talk to your own physician concerning the measures that you need to take to care for your illness, in the event your evaluation results in a investigation.

What is an Echocardiogram?

Echocardiogram

Ultrasound uses sound waves to assist physicians see in the body. During an echocardiogram, a health care provider can view the heart while it’s beating and see lots of its own constructions working. An echocardiogram is the simplest way to get a cardiologist (heart specialist) to see if your congenital heart defect exists.

How can the echocardiogram operate?

The transducer which is set in your torso sends sound waves toward one’s heart. Just like the sonar on a sub, the sound waves bounce off one’s heart,and so are gathered from by the transducer.

These returning sound waves are processed with a pc, assembled right into a two dimensional picture of the beating heart, and shown on a TV display (which you’ll be capable of seeing should you want). By training the transducer, the tech will have the ability to image many of the significant cardiac constructions.

What’s the echocardiogram great for?

The echocardiogram discloses significant advice concerning the anatomy of one’s heart. It’s particularly ideal for finding issues with all the heart valves (including aortic stenosis or mitral valve prolapse). It’s also an immensely useful test for assessing congenital heart disease. The echocardiogram further is a great way to get a broad notion of the entire purpose of one’s heart muscle.

What’s the echocardiogram not great for?

The echo doesn’t picture the coronary arteries, and is just not useful for finding coronary artery disease. It’s not as precise as the MUGA scan for quantifying general cardiac muscle function. These physical variations, yet, might be beat by performing a transesophageal echo evaluation.