Cardiovascular / Heart / Stroke

Angina is a condition marked by severe pain in the chest, often also spreading to the shoulders, arms, and neck, caused by an inadequate blood supply to the heart.

Angioplasty (also called Balloon Angioplasty)  If you have coronary artery disease, the arteries of your heart are narrowed or blocked by a sticky material called plaque.  Angioplasty is a procedure to restore blood flow through the artery.

An arrhythmia is a condition in which the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm.  It means that the heart beats too quickly (Tachycardia), too slowly (Bradycardia), or with an irregular pattern (Flutter, fibrillation).  An early heartbeat is called premature contraction.

Atrial Fibrillation or "A-Fib" is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart related complications.

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for your heart to pump blood to the rest of your body.

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is a malformation of the heart, aorta, or other large blood vessel.  There is no cure for CHD.  Many people have surgeries to repair their heart, however, they are not cured.  There may be long-term effects of heart surgery such as abnormal heartbeats.

Congestive Heart Failure is a chronic progressive condition that affects the pumping power of your heart muscles.  While often referred to as simply "Heart Failure" CHF specifically refers to the stage in which fluid builds up around the heart and causes it to pump inefficiently.

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries, usually caused by atherosclerosis, sometimes called hardening or clogging of the arteries.  It is the buildup of cholesterol and fatty deposits (called plaques) on the inner walls of the arteries.

Defibrillators are  devices that restore a normal heartbeat by sending an electric pulse or shock to the heart.  They are used to prevent or correct an arrhythmia, a heartbeat that is uneven or that is too slow or too fast.

Heart Attack The death of heart muscle due to the loss of blood supply, usually caused by a complete blockage of a coronary artery, one of the arteries that supplies blood to the heart muscle.

A Heart Murmur is a swishing sound heard when there is turbulent or abnormal blood flow across the heart valve.  Most heart murmurs are "innocent," but others are caused by valvular heart disease or cardiomyopathy.

A pacemaker is an implanted battery-powered device used to send signals to your heart in order to make it beat in a regular rhythm.

Palpitations make you feel like your heart is beating too hard or too fast, skipping a beat, or fluttering.

A Stent is a tubular support placed temporarily inside a blood vessel, canal, or duct to aid healing or relieve an obstruction.

Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain.  It is the #5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States.  A Stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts (ruptures).

A Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is a stroke that lasts only a few minutes.  It happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is briefly blocked.

Tachycardia is a condition that makes your heart beat more than 100 times per minute.  There are three types of it:  

1. Supraventricular Tachycardia is when the electrical signals in the organ's upper chambers misfire and cause the heart rate to speed up.
2. Ventricular Tachycardia is a rapid heart rate that starts in the heart's lower chambers.
3. Sinus Tachycardia happens when the heart's natural pacemaker sends out electrical signals faster than normal.