An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an abnormal widening or ballooning of a portion of an artery due to weakness in the wall of the blood vessel. When this ballooning occurs in the aorta (a major artery that runs from the heart into the abdominal cavity), it can pose a serious health threat if it should rupture. Symptoms are rarely evident before a rupture, so screening is important to identify risk and prevent a rupture from occurring.
When blood flow is reduced to your heart muscle for any reason, you may experience chest pain, called angina. This pain is not a disease in itself. It is a symptom of underlying heart disease.
If you experience chest pain, see a cardiologist right away. Our doctors offer sophisticated diagnostic tests and compassionate care for angina and other types of heart problems.
When problems occur with the heart’s electrical conduction system, an arrhythmia can occur. This means the heart does not beat in sequence the way it should. Left untreated, arrhythmia can cause fainting or even stop your heart from beating.
Skilled cardiologists at NHRMC treat all types of abnormal heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation (A-fib). We offer sophisticated diagnostics and friendly care in a convenient location.
You may have heard the term, hardening of the arteries. The medical term for this is atherosclerosis. This condition occurs when cholesterol and other substances build up in the walls of your arteries, causing them to become stiff. Stiffened blood vessels do not circulate blood effectively to the rest of your body.
The expert cardiologists who practice at NHRMC excel at diagnosing and treating atherosclerosis with medications and other treatments.
Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, is a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the rest of the body's needs. Heart failure usually happens gradually, over time. You might be at a higher risk of developing heart failure if you have diabetes or coronary artery disease.
At NHRMC, our cardiologists are experts at diagnosing congestive heart failure early, leading to earlier treatment and a higher quality of life.
One of the most common heart conditions in America, coronary heart disease occurs when fatty plaque builds up in the arteries of your heart. This build-up causes the arteries to become narrow or even completely blocked. These blocked arteries cannot deliver oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle, resulting in a heart attack.
When caught early, coronary heart disease (also called coronary artery disease) can be treated to reduce plaque build-up and help avoid a heart attack. Cardiologists at NHRMC Heart Center specialize in diagnosing and treating coronary heart disease.
You may not think leg pain and muscle cramps could be a sign of heart disease, but they are. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when the blood vessels that serve the legs and other extremities become stiffened or narrowed due to the build-up of arterial plaques. These clogged peripheral arteries cannot deliver enough oxygen-rich blood to the body’s tissues (most often the legs), causing pain and other symptoms.
Our cardiologists have decades of experience identifying, diagnosing, and treating peripheral arterial disease.
The medical term for fainting is syncope. While syncope can be caused by many things, including low blood sugar, repeated episodes of fainting may indicate a heart problem. Low blood pressure and arrhythmias like A-fib can cause syncope.
If you experience fainting episodes, especially during exercise, consult a skilled cardiologist. Our doctors use their years of experience to determine if your syncope is caused by a heart problem or not. If it is, you can rely on us to provide compassionate, comprehensive care to get you back to normal life as quickly as possible.
Heart valve disease can happen due to illness, age-related changes to the heart tissue, or co-existing heart conditions such as advanced high blood pressure. At NHRMC, we have created an entire program around diagnosing and treating heart valve problems.
With our Heart Valve Program, we take a collaborative approach, bringing together the region’s top cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and other specialists to diagnose and treat your heart valve disease.