Understanding your risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease can help prevent heart attack and stroke. Cardiologists at Ascension Sacred Heart are specially trained in the latest heart and vascular testing, treatment and procedures. Your doctor starts by listening to understand you and your health concerns. Then, we work with you to create a care plan that’s right for you.
Your cardiologist is your primary heart doctor
Your care team coordinates your heart tests and treatments, and monitors your care. Cardiologists work with other cardiovascular specialists at Ascension Sacred Heart to deliver care that’s right for you.
Helping you improve your heart health
When your energy level is different than usual, your heart starts racing or you have concerns about heart disease and stroke, talk with your doctor about your symptoms and any concerns. Your cardiologist helps you recognize how other factors, such as reflux, medications and other health treatments, can affect your heart. Imaging tests, cholesterol tests, heart enzyme blood tests, EKG, and blood pressure monitoring can help your doctor diagnose all types of heart disease — irregular heartbeat, leaky heart valve, clogged coronary artery and more.
If you are experiencing new symptoms, talk with your doctor. Symptoms may be different in men and women:
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Feeling weak, light-headed or faint
- Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck or back
- Pain or discomfort in one (or both) arms or shoulders
- Shortness of breath
If you are experiencing chest pain, especially in combination with jaw or arm pain, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting or difficulty breathing, you might be having a heart attack. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
Specialty care for AFib and other types of heart disease
Cardiologists provide specialty care for arrhythmia and other heart rhythm disorders and help you reduce your risk for stroke and heart attack. A common type of arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib. Having AFib increases your risk for a stroke or transient ischemic attack (also called a TIA or mini-stroke). [If you have AFib, your doctor may evaluate you for the WATCHMAN™ device. This procedure offers an alternative to the lifelong use of Warfarin for people with AFib not caused by heart valve problems.]
Advanced heart and vascular care, close to home
Care teams at Ascension Sacred Heart provide cardiovascular treatments, including:
- Ablation procedures - cryoablation, stereotaxis and radiofrequency
- Anticoagulation therapy
- Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery
- Cardiac rehabilitation
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)
- Electrophysiology (EP) testing of the heart’s electrical system
- Heart failure management
- Heart transplant surgery and VAD
- Implantable pacemakers and defibrillators
- Implantable loop recorder for long-term heart rhythm monitoring
- Medication management
- Pulmonary hypertension management
- Structural heart cardiothoracic surgery
- Valve repair or replacement, TAVR and MitraClip™
- Vascular surgery, aortic aneurysm and blood clots
- WATCHMAN™ procedure
