Posted on July 30, 2012
Dr. Seldon, a Heart Doctor and Cardiologist in New York City, offers same day appointments and all testing is done on site. Call us at (212) 367-8000.
Here He explains Open Heart Surgery 101
An LVAD Implant involves 6 to 8 hours of open heart surgery. You will be under full sedation for the length of the operation. A ventilator will help you breath during the procedure. After the initial incision is made, your chest will be opened to expose your heart. Since your heart is stopped during surgery, you’ll be put on a heart-lung bypass machine to keep your blood circulating properly.
Recovery
You will be admitted to the ICU for several days post-op. A ventilator, IV, catheter, and chest tubes will keep you stable. Afterwards, you’ll be moved to a standard hospital room.You will start a physical therapy and daily activity regiment. Beginning with minimal tasks; sitting up, standing, walking a short distance. The activity level will build as you gain strength back.
A Left Ventricular Assist Device, or LVAD, is one of the most intriguing advances in the cardiovascular procedures currently available to heart patients. Often referred to as a “bridge to transplant”; this life-saving device helps extend the quality of a person’s life while they wait for a cardiac transplant. But how much do you know about the surgery itself? This article will help explain the basics of the procedure.
Two different LVAD models are used in these cardiovascular procedures:
1. LVAD Pump-works like your heart; circulating blood via a pumping action.
2. Continuous Stream LVAD-controls a continuous stream of blood in the heart.
Once your LVAD implantation is completed and tested, doctors will take you off bypass, and the next stage begins.Treatment
Cardiovascular procedures like the LVAD Implant have to be monitored daily while you are hospitalized. These are the methods doctors use:• Blood thinners and antibiotics to prevent complications/infections.
• Blood tests for LVAD/kidney function.
• Pulse checks; device(s) can cause abnormal pulse.
As with all cardiovascular procedures; pre and post-operative care, as well as discharge instructions should be discussed with your cardiac care team.
Posted on July 27, 2012
Heart disease can be brought on by many factors. Any heart doc, Manhattan-based or otherwise, will tell you that some of these factors are in your control and others are not. Lifestyle changes are common for heart patients, but how much do you know about the cardiovascular problems caused by damage to the organ itself? This article will examine the effects of one such cause; Rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
Heart Doctors Manhattan
If a person contracts rheumatic fever and the on-set is acute, it can cause long term cardiac valve damage. This valve damage is known as RHD. The disease leads to heart failure.
Acute rheumatic fever leads to heart failure because it inflames almost the entire heart. This inflammation is called carditis.
There are three main portions of the heart that are affected by carditis:
1. The pericardium, or exterior, of the heart
2. The heart muscle
3. The endocardia, or interior, of the heart
What are the symptoms of carditis?
A heart doc-Manhattan trained-will be familiar with the interior and exterior cardiac inflammation caused by this type of fever. They know the tell-tale signs of RHD to watch for. If the fever leads to chronic valve disease, the damage will get progressively worse. Repeated episodes of Rheumatic Fever will accelerate the valve deterioration.
The endocarditis that causes RHD differs from its infectious counterpart since it is not precipitated by a direct cardiac bacterial infection. By contrast, the endocarditis in rheumatic fever is triggered by an autoimmune response to strep throat.
When does RHD begin to affect the heart?
RHD typically affects about half of the people who had rheumatic fever with carditis. Due to the prolonged nature of the inflammatory damage, it can take 10 to 20 years for RHD to develop after it’s triggered by the fever.
To find out how you can keep this condition in check, contact a local heart doc. Manhattan has many board-certified cardiologists to choose from.
Dr. Seldon, a Heart Doctor and Cardiologist in New York City, offers same day appointments and all testing is done on site. Call us at (212) 367-8000.
Posted on July 25, 2012
Any irregularity in your heart’s natural rhythm is known as an arrhythmia. It’s natural for your heart to skip or flutter at times and these mild, small palpitations are not life-threatening. But there is another group of heart patients-over 4 million of them in fact-with recurrent arrhythmias, and they could be facing arrhythmia surgery.
How is arrhythmia treated?
Drug therapy is the first phase of treatment. If that does not prove to be effective, interventional procedures are implemented.
• Ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation can be treated via ICD. This is a device that uses electric impulses or a shock to restore a normal rhythm. The device’s power source is implanted in a subcutaneous pouch in your chest or the area above your stomach.
• An electronic pacemaker can be used to slow your heart rate. The pacemaker is surgically implanted near the collarbone. The pacemaker’s batteries supply emulates the effects of your heart’s natural function.
• Radiofrequency ablation is a procedure that maps the electrical pathways of the heart. Under mild sedation, a catheter is threaded through a vein and guided to your heart, where doctors utilize high-frequency radio waves to destroy source of the arrhythmia.
Arrhythmia surgery is used as a last resort, if you are not responding to the treatment protocol.
• Surgical ablation uses computerized mapping technology. Surgeons can find out which cells are acting as catalysts and eliminate the tissue with a cold probe to destroy them.
• In Atrial Fibrillation (AF) surgery, surgeons create a number of incisions in the atrium to block the unpredictable electrical impulses that cause the condition.
• Ventricular resection involves removing the area in the cardiac muscle where the arrhythmia originates.
In mild cases of rhythm irregularity, no treatment is needed. Most people with an arrhythmia lead normal, active lives. Often, avoiding substances like caffeine and alcohol are enough to manage the arrhythmia.
For more information on arrhythmia surgery, please contact a Cardiologist.
Dr. Seldon, a Heart Doctor and Cardiologist in New York City, offers same day appointments and all testing is done on site. Call us at (212) 367-8000.
Posted on July 13, 2012
A heart screen is one of the essential annual tests for heart patients and people at high risk for heart disease. Advancements like 3-D screenings have made it easier to assess and diagnose patients in need of treatment. Before these improved techniques were available doctors had to use a different kind of diagnostic formula; predictability calculations called sensitivity and specificity.
Sensitivity & Specificity
This is really a balance of effectiveness and accuracy.
Sensitivity shows how well a diagnostic test works. Specificity tells you how accurate the results are. This information translates to a predictive value or, the percentage of patients who will test either positive or negative.
Specialists are able to use these figures to determine a patient’s odds.
Methodology
Think of this as an exam where all of the answers are based on true-false questions:
• True positive-a patient has a disease and the test accurately shows that.
• False negative-a patient has a disease, but the test is inaccurate.
• True negative-the test shows the patient is disease-free.
• False positive-the test result is positive when the patient is disease-free.
Now, it’s time to calculate; starting with sensitivity.
And the answer is…
The calculations are done in two different groupings.
First, the true positives and false negatives are added together. Then that number is divided by the true positives. This result is the sensitivity prediction, or, the percentages of patients with a disease with accurate tests versus those that are misdiagnosed.
Repeat the calculation using the true negative and false positive figures to find the specificity prediction, or, the percentages of patients who are actually disease-free versus those that are misdiagnosed.
When compared to a heart screen, this method may seem old-school, but it’s still used to calculate statistical odds and treatment viability in medicine today. When you think about it, if it weren’t for medical math like this, we wouldn’t have screenings at all. Schedule your heart screen at a clinic today.
Dr. Seldon, a Heart Doctor and Cardiologist in New York City, offers same day appointments and all testing is done on site. Call us at (212) 367-8000.
Posted on July 2, 2012
Getting your heart checked by the best is essential. It involves a substantial amount of requisite education and training, not to mention intense field work and research to be a cardiologist in nyc. The ultimate goal is to provide quality patient care that is comprehensive and cutting-edge. This commitment is evident in every step cardiologists take to practice medicine. Understanding this step by step process will help you make a well-informed decision about the doctor and treatment protocol that is right for you.
Cardiologist NYC
Let’s start with a review of the basics.
Cardiologists are medical doctors who specialize in the cardiovascular system. This system is comprised of the heart, arteries and surrounding veins. The study of the human heart is a branch of internal medicine. Patients are treated for issues related to heart disease. Specialists run diagnostic tests and develop treatment protocols with a health-centered focus.
Heart Doctor
A cardiologist’s education has four different stages. First, they must graduate from an accredited medical school. Prospective cardio-specialists then complete a three year residency program. Once they become board certified in Internal Medicine, they can accept a fellowship in cardiology. This practical teaching method gives doctors the experience of treating both acute and chronic cardiovascular conditions. A final certification in cardiology is pursued upon completion of the fellowship.
Continuing Education
This is where cardiology gets hyper-specific. It can be broken down into several sub-specialties.
Interventional cardiology entails surgical training for cardiac arrest and abnormal tissue development with the heart. Electrophysiology addresses invasive treatment for murmurs and arrhythmias. Nuclear cardiologists focus on the pumping function of the heart and removing blockages or repairing damage from hardened arteries. There’s also a sub-specialty called echocardiography where specialists learn to perform echocardiograms and trans-esophageal echoes. Each sub-specialty takes two years of additional training to complete.
New York heart clinics offer a range of cardiologists who are board-certified and highly trained in a number of sub-specialties. Contact your local clinic to find the doctor that is right for you.
Dr. Seldon, a Heart Doctor and Cardiologist in NYC, offers same day appointments and all testing is done on site. Call us at (212) 367-8000.
