Cardiology
Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in diseases of the heart. The choice of a physician or hospital is an important one. In order to make the best decision, information about the number of procedures and the results of those procedures are important things to consider. These are called outcomes measures and a one of the factors to consider when you choose a healthcare provider.
Cardiologists at the Heart Institute at UPMC Hamot work to diagnose heart disease in its earliest stages and treat it in its worst forms. They also educate people about risk factors that could lead to heart disease so they can make lifestyle changes to stop or delay the development of heart disease.
Several factors put you at risk for heart disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and being overweight.
Diseases and Conditions [top]
There are many kinds of heart disease, affecting different parts of the heart. Listed below are several diseases that affect the heart.
- Arrhythmias
- Atrial Fibrillation (A Fib)
- Palpitations
- Ventricular Arrhythmias
- Tachycardia
- Bradycardia
- Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)
- Cardiomyopathy
- Congenital Heart Disease
- Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
- Heart Attack
- Chest Pain
- Heart Failure
- Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)
- Syncope or Fainting
- Valvular Disease
- Mitral
- Aortic
- Tricuspid
- Pulmonic
- Women and Heart Disease
the Heart Institute at UPMC Hamot is able to provide a wide range of diagnostic services for the region. The cardiovascular outpatient diagnostic center is located in the Heart Institute at UPMC Hamot at 120 East 2nd Street. The center offers diagnostic services including nuclear stress tests, exercise stress tests, echocardiograms, stress echocardiograms, dobutamine echocardiograms, carotid dopplers and holter monitors. The diagnostic center is staffed with highly trained registered nurses, cardiac technicians, certified sonographers and cardiologists. Our echocardiography lab is nationally accredited, and our nuclear lab is accreditation eligible. To schedule an appointment, please call 814-877-5932.
A cardiovascular outpatient diagnostic center is located in the Sterling Square Building at 3330 Peach Street. Cardiac fitness offers the following diagnostic services: nuclear stress tests, exercise stress tests, echocardiograms, stress echocardiograms, carotid dopplers, venous dopplers, arterial dopplers, abdominal imaging - aortas (AAA), holter monitors and event monitors. Cardiac fitness is staffed with highly trained registered nurses, cardiac technicians, certified sonographers, cardiologists, and internal medicine physicians. Our echocardiography and vascular labs are nationally accredited; our nuclear lab is accreditation eligible. To schedule an appointment, please call 814-868-9674. Diagnostic services can be put into three categories: non-invasive diagnostics, invasive diagnostics and therapeutic interventions.
Diagnostics [top]
Noninvasive Diagnostics - A noninvasive diagnostic test is one that is done from the outside of the body, such as an ultrasound, echocardiogram or stress test.
- Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) - An EKF or ECG is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat.
- Echocardiogram
- Adult - A noninvasive procedure that uses sound waves (ultrasound) to evaluate how well the heart is working. This test will help the doctor evaluate the size, pumping strength and function of the heart muscle and valves.
- Pediatric - An ultrasound study of the heart done specifically on children.
- Fetal - A test using sound waves (ultrasound) to show the structure of an unborn baby's heart.
- Stress Testing
- Regular - Can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply the heart.
- Nuclear - Lets doctors see pictures of the heart while at rest and shortly after exercise.
- Stress Echo - Done before, during or immediately after some form of physical stress (such as bicycle or treadmill exercise).
- Holter Monitor - A small recorder that monitors a patient as he or she goes about normal daily life. The machine makes a graphic record of the heart's electrical currents.
- Event Recorder - Small devices that are used by patients throughout a longer period (typically one month) to track heart activities.
- Implantable Device Monitoring
- Pacemaker - A small, battery-operated device that helps the heart beat in a regular rhythm.
- Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) - A small, electronic device installed inside the chest to prevent sudden death from cardiac arrest due to life-threatening abnormally fast heart rhythms (tachycardias).
- Tilt Table Test – A test where a patient is strapped onto a table, which is then tilted 90 degrees to see how the heart reacts to the change in position and the need to pump blood and oxygen up to the brain.
Invasive Diagnostics - An invasive diagnostic test is done by looking inside the body with special equipment, such as a cardiac catheterization.
- Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE) - A tube with an echocardiogram transducer on the end of it is passed down a person's throat and into the esophagus.
- Cardiac Catheterization (Cardiac Cath) - A doctor inserts a thin plastic tube (catheter) into an artery or vein in the arm or leg. From there, it can be advanced into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary arteries. This test can measure blood pressure within the heart and how much oxygen is in the blood. It's also used to get information about the pumping ability of the heart muscle.
- Electrophysiology Study (EP Study, EPS) - This involves placing wire electrodes within the heart to determine the characteristics of heart arrhythmias.
- Implantable Loop Recorder (Implantable Event Recorder) – A recorder is placed to capture events of the heart that occur an irregular basis.
Treatment [top]
Therapeutic Interventions - A therapeutic intervention is a treatment for a disease or problem that is usually done inside the body with special equipment such as a stent or pacemaker.
- Coronary Artery Interventions
- Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) - This takes place from an artery in the groin to a trouble spot in an artery of the heart. The balloon is then inflated, compressing the plaque and dilating (widening) the narrowed coronary artery so that blood can flow more easily.
- Stent - A wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery during angioplasty.
- Bare Metal Stent - Tubular in design and can be made from a wide range of metals.
- Drug Eluting Stent - A normal metal stent that has been coated with a pharmacologic agent (drug) that is known to interfere with the process of restenosis (reblocking).
- Digital Cardiac Angiography (DCA) - This modified form of imaging records pictures by computer of the major blood vessels to the heart or brain. In this test, dye is injected into a vein in the arm, and an X-ray machine quickly takes a series of pictures of the chest or head and neck.
- Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Rotational Ablation (PTCRA) - A nonsurgical procedure that relieves narrowing and obstruction of the arteries to the muscle of the heart.
- Thrombectomy - Procedure to remove a clot.
- Radiofrequency Ablation (RF Ablation, Ablation) - A non-surgical procedure used to treat some types of rapid heart beating.
- Implantable Devices
- Pacemaker - A small, battery-operated device that helps the heart beat in a regular rhythm. Some are permanent (internal) and some are temporary (external).
- Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) - A small electronic device installed inside the chest to prevent sudden death from cardiac arrest due to life-threatening abnormally fast heart rhythms (tachycardias).
- Bi-Vetricular Pacemaker or ICD - Designed to treat the delay in heart ventricle contractions.
- Cardioversion - The conversion of one cardiac rhythm or electrical pattern to another, almost always from an abnormal to a normal one.
- Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) Closure - This closes a defect in the septum (wall) between the two upper (atrial) chambers of the heart.
- Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Closure – This closes an opening that exists between the heart's two upper chambers.
- Valvuloplasty - A procedure in which a special catheter containing a deflated balloon is inserted into the opening of a narrowed heart valve. When the balloon is inflated, the valve is stretched open; then the balloon is removed.
In addition, the Heart Institute also has a number of special programs that are used to care for people with certain heart conditions:
- Cardiac ER
- Heart Failure Clinic
- Device Clinic
- Cardiac Education
- Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Research
