Cardiac catheterization (also called cardiac cath or coronary angiogram) is an invasive imaging procedure that tests for heart disease by allowing your doctor to see how well your heart is functioning. During the test, a long, narrow tube, called a catheter, is inserted into a blood vessel in your arm or leg and guided to...
Introduction to Heart Valve Surgery Diseased heart valves can be treated both surgically (traditional heart valve surgery) and non-surgically (balloon valvuloplasty). What Happens During Traditional Heart Valve Surgery? Readers Comments 5 Share Your Story During traditional heart valve surgery, a surgeon will make an incision down the center of your sternum (breastbone) to get direct...
What Is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy? Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is associated with thickening of the heart muscle, most commonly at the septum between the ventricles, below the aortic valve. This leads to stiffening of the walls of the heart and abnormal aortic and mitral heart valve function, both of which may impede normal blood flow out of...
Placing stents in arteries during angioplasty is very effective at keeping heart blood vessels open. But, even when stents are implanted, arteries narrow again in 15%-25% of people. This re-narrowing is called in-stent restenosis. Most restenosis is due to scar tissue that forms in response to the injury created when the stent was implanted. Some...
Symptoms of blood clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT) are pain, redness, and swelling.Source: Universal Images Group / Getty Images Blood clot facts A blood clot is a gel-like mass formed by platelets and fibrin in the blood to stop bleeding. A blood clot forms to try to repair damage to a...
What Is Dilated Cardiomyopathy? Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, is enlarged and weakened. In some cases, it prevents the heart from relaxing and filling with blood as it should. Over time, it can affect the...
Shortness of breath is one symptom of congestive heart failure.Source: iStock Congestive heart failure (CHF) facts Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart's function as a pump is inadequate to meet the body's needs. Many disease processes can impair the pumping efficiency of the heart to cause congestive heart failure. The...
Biventricular Pacemaker Introduction A biventricular pacemaker is a special pacemaker used for cardiac resynchronization therapy in heart failure patients. In the normal heart, the heart’s lower chambers (ventricles) pump at the same time and in sync with the heart’s upper chambers (atria). When a person has heart failure, often the right and left ventricles do...
What is a hemorrhagic stroke? A hemorrhagic stroke is a serious medical emergency and should be treated immediately. While survival rates are low, there are ways to improve your chances. A hemorrhagic stroke is when bleeding unexpectedly and abruptly interferes with the brain’s ability to function. This bleeding can occur within the brain or between...
Mitral valve prolapse definition and facts Readers Comments 4 Share Your Story People with mild mitral valve prolapse often have more symptoms and signs than those with severe prolapse (which may require surgery). Rarely, people with severe mitral valve prolapse will have symptoms that can affect the entire body. Mitral valve prolapse (mitral valve prolapse)...