Cardiology is the treatment of diseases of the heart and blood vessels. A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in treating heart conditions such as abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects, and disease of the heart valves. A cardiologist can inform your doctor about new drugs or tests that may be beneficial to you.
Some heart conditions can cause permanent damage to the heart muscle, and can be fatal. Methods that cardiologists use to study heart conditions include stress tests, a monitor to record your heart rate and rhythm, a biopsy, which studies a tiny piece of heart tissue, and an echocardiogram, which uses sound waves to show a picture of how your heart works.
Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are Peripheral Vascular Disease, Blood Clot, angioplasty, Hypertension, Angina, Congestive heart failure, Heart Attack, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary heart disease, Pericarditis, Atherosclerosis, Cardiac Arrest, Acute Coronary Syndrome, Ventricular Tachycardia, Myxoma, Bigeminy, Heart block, Cardiac Arrhythmias, Mitral valve disorders, and Congenital pulmonic stenosis.
Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including Gastric Bypass Surgery, Open Heart Surgery, Valve Repair, Valve Replacement, Bypass Surgery, Catheter Ablation, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Carotid Artery Surgery, Atherectomy, Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, Cardiac Bypass Surgery, Heart Transplantation, Laser Angioplasty, Coronary Bypass Surgery, Balloon Angioplasty, Carotid Surgery, Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, Valvuloplasty, and Cardiovascular Surgery.
To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), Holter Monitor, Cardiac Stress Test, Echocardiogram, Blood Test, Sphygmomanometer, Cardiac Enzymes, IVUS, Electrophysiologic study, and Coronary Catheterization.
Doctor density varies by specialty and location. The United States has 27,372 practicing cardiologists. Broken out by state, cardiology doctor density in Alabama is 372, in Alaska is 27, in Arizona is 518, in Arkansas is 173, in California is 2,503, in Colorado is 285, in Connecticut is 463, in Delaware is 92, in District of Columbia is 183, in Florida is 1,896, in Georgia is 677, in Hawaii is 77, in Idaho is 74, in Illinois is 1,161, in Indiana is 558, in Iowa is 210, in Kansas is 205, in Kentucky is 387, in Louisiana is 403, in Maine is 132, in Maryland is 657, in Massachusetts is 1,076, in Michigan is 831, in Minnesota is 560, in Mississippi is 189, in Missouri is 608, in Montana is 59, in Nebraska is 137, in Nevada is 185, in New Hampshire is 136, in New Jersey is 1,146, in New Mexico is 131, in New York is 2,470, in North Carolina is 832, in North Dakota is 50, in Ohio is 1,126, in Oklahoma is 237, in Oregon is 227, in Pennsylvania is 1,585, in Rhode Island is 142, in South Carolina is 319, in South Dakota is 47, in Tennessee is 559, in Texas is 1,658, in Utah is 138, in Vermont is 48, in Virginia is 580, in Washington is 452, in West Virginia is 135, in Wisconsin is 424, and in Wyoming is 23.
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