Cardiology and Cardiothoracic
Cardiology
Cardiology is a
branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart as well as
some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical
diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery
disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology.
Physicians who specialize in this field of medicine are called
cardiologists, a specialty of internal medicine. Pediatric cardiologists
are pediatricians who specialize in cardiology. Physicians who
specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or
cardiac surgeons, a specialty of general surgery.
Echocardiography
Echocardiography uses standard two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and Doppler ultrasound to create images of the heart.
Echocardiography has become routinely used in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with any suspected or known heart diseases. It is one of the most widely used diagnostic tests in cardiology. It can provide a wealth of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart , pumping capacity, and the location and extent of any tissue damage. An echocardiogram can also give physicians other estimates of heart function, such as a calculation of the cardiac output, ejection fraction, and diastolic function.
Echocardiography can help detect cardiomyopathies, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, and many others. The use of stress echocardiography may also help determine whether any chest pain or associated symptoms are related to heart disease. The biggest advantage to echocardiography is that it is not invasive (does not involve breaking the skin or entering body cavities) and has no known risks or side effects.
Echocardiography has become routinely used in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with any suspected or known heart diseases. It is one of the most widely used diagnostic tests in cardiology. It can provide a wealth of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart , pumping capacity, and the location and extent of any tissue damage. An echocardiogram can also give physicians other estimates of heart function, such as a calculation of the cardiac output, ejection fraction, and diastolic function.
Echocardiography can help detect cardiomyopathies, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, and many others. The use of stress echocardiography may also help determine whether any chest pain or associated symptoms are related to heart disease. The biggest advantage to echocardiography is that it is not invasive (does not involve breaking the skin or entering body cavities) and has no known risks or side effects.
Heart Disorder
Cardiology is concerned with the normal functionality of the heart and the deviation from a healthy heart.
Many disorders involve the heart itself but some are outside of the heart and in the vascular system.
Collectively, the two together are termed the cardiovascular system and diseases of one part tend to affect the other.
Cardiothoracic
Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity generally treatment of conditions of the heart disease, lung disease, and other pleural or mediastinal structures. Cardiac surgery involving the heart and the great vessels and thoracic surgery.
Surgery in great vessels aortic coarctation repair, Blalock-Taussig shunt creation, closure of patent ductus arteriosus became common after the turn of the century and falls in the domain of cardiac surgery, but technically cannot be considered heart surgery. One of the more commonly known cardiac surgery procedures is the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), also known as "bypass surgery." In this procedure, vessels from elsewhere in the patient's body are harvested, and grafted to the coronary arteries to bypass blockages and improve the blood supply to the heart muscle.
Surgery in great vessels aortic coarctation repair, Blalock-Taussig shunt creation, closure of patent ductus arteriosus became common after the turn of the century and falls in the domain of cardiac surgery, but technically cannot be considered heart surgery. One of the more commonly known cardiac surgery procedures is the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), also known as "bypass surgery." In this procedure, vessels from elsewhere in the patient's body are harvested, and grafted to the coronary arteries to bypass blockages and improve the blood supply to the heart muscle.