SVMC cardiology

 

 

STRIVING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE ONE BEAT AT A TIME

You get one life and you get one heart. The board-certified cardiologists and associated practitioners at SVMC Cardiology are committed to helping you make the most of both.

Our patient-centered approach to care and personalized care plans maximize your quality of life while delivering the treatment you need when you need it.

Creating the appropriate treatment plan for your condition begins with a cardiac consultation. Your consultation is a chance for you to share your health history and current concerns with your cardiologist. All necessary exams and tests are conducted on-site by your cardiac care team. The results are shared and discussed directly with you so that you fully understand your condition, treatment options, associated risks, and potential lifestyle changes.

After a heart episode or surgery, there’s nothing our cardiac team and you want more than for you to just get back on your feet and live the life you want. That’s why we begin your rehabilitation program before you even leave the hospital. Through a combination of education and exercise, your personalized program will help you build strength and reduce your risk factors. Using the full range of cardio equipment in our Cardiac Rehab Center and under the watchful eye of our rehab team, you’ll improve your heart’s strength and capacity and get closer to resuming a full and active lifestyle. For more information about Cardiac Rehabilitation, click here.

In order to understand how well your heart is or isn’t functioning, an echocardiogram may be performed. This non-invasive procedure uses sound waves to produce images of your heart. Both of SVMC’s cardiologists are board certified in echocardiography and able to observe how your heart is pumping and identify any abnormalities in the heart muscle or valves. An echocardiogram allows our team to make the most informed and appropriate recommendations for the next steps in your care.

If a standard echocardiogram does not provide a clear image of your heart, your SVMC care team may recommend a transesophageal echocardiogram or TEE. Performed at the hospital, this procedure involves inserting a flexible tube containing a transducer down your throat and into your esophagus. From this closer vantage point, the transducer then uses sound waves to create more detailed images of your heart and allows for better diagnosis.

Before we treat your heart, we need understand how it’s performing. At SVMC we offer a number of non-invasive stress tests that can quickly and easily reveal a number of things including: how well your heart works during increasing levels of activity; how certain medications are impacting blood flow; the effectiveness of procedures done to improve heart performance; and more.

If you have risk factors for heart disease, calcium scoring may may help you learn more about whether you are actually at risk. The non-invasive test uses high-speed CT imaging technology to measure the hardening of the heart’s arteries, a leading indicator of heart disease and heart attacks. Visit the calcium scoring page for complete details. 

A pacemaker is one of the most effective ways to ensure a heart maintains a steady, healthy beat. The SVMC cardiac team is exceptionally skilled and experienced at both pacemaker implantation and monitoring. Considered a minor surgery, implantation takes place at the hospital with most patients returning to normal activity (and a more steadily beating heart) within a few days. Like all medical equipment, pacemakers need a little TLC every now and then. At SVMC our cardiac team can perform routine monitoring, both remotely and in the office, and reprogramming as needed.

One of the most common cardiac diagnostic tools, an EKG is a painless way to check for problems with the electrical activity of your heart. The EKG translates and records your heart’s electrical activity over a period of time and translates it into waves. Your SVMC care provider can use printouts of the waves to detect any patterns that might point to a specific condition and put together a treatment plan that meets your specific needs.

Should your SVMC cardiac care provider want to monitor your heart over a longer period of time than is practical for a standard EKG, you may be given a Holter or event monitor. Worn outside the body and completely painless, monitors are helpful in detecting abnormalities that only happen occasionally and can help your doctor link any abnormalities to specific activities or events in your day.

Carotid ultrasound
At SVMC our goal is to treat your health issues before they become problems. Using our sophisticated carotid ultrasound test, your cardiac care provider can detect blockages in your neck arteries that could lead to a stroke or indicate problems in other parts or your circulatory system.

Education
Because understanding what causes heart problems is essential to resolving them, we offer a variety of educational resources to patients and their families.  Workshops are offered on an ongoing basis throughout the Dartmouth-Hitchcock network, and condition-specific literature is available in our offices. 

SVMC Cardiac Rehab

SVMC Pulmonology

American Heart Association 

Go Red for Women 

American College of Cardiology 

140 Hospital Drive, Suite 211, Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: (802) 442-0800
Fax: (833) 343-1597

Hours:
Monday – Friday:  8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Directions: 
For directions to SVMC Cardiology, click here. 

Parking:
For appointments at SVMC Cardiology, park in parking area P3 or P5.

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    Kathryn Czaplinski
    / Categories: WELLNESS, 2024

    Common cold or pneumonia: Can you tell the difference?

    While colds and pneumonia can strike at any time of the year, they’re more common in the winter months when people spend more indoors making it easy for the 200 viruses that cause colds to spread.

    An estimated 1 billion Americans will contract at least one cold this year. The majority of them will recover in a week or less. Many of the viruses that cause colds can also cause viral pneumonia that sends more than a million people to the hospital each year and leads to more than 50,000 deaths.

    Which is why it’s important to be able to recognize differences between the symptoms of a common cold and pneumonia so that you can seek the proper care and treatment as needed.

    Here’s how they compare and when to see a doctor

    Common Cold

    Symptoms: Sore throat, Runny or stuffy nose, Sneezing, Cough. Loss of appetite, Headache. May cause low fever (100 to 102°F) in young children but not adults

    Duration: Up to a week

    Treatment: Stay hydrated, Get plenty of rest, Take over-the counter medications including decongestants, antihistamines and pain relievers as needed. For children 6 years old and younger, speak to your doctor before giving pain reliever. Gargle with warm salt water to soothe a sore throat. Inhale warm steam from a hot shower or over a heated pot of water (not boiling) to relieve congestion. Use a humidifier

    When to see a doctor: The cold persists for more than two weeks. Symptoms worsen or include a high fever, sinus pain, swollen glands, or a cough that produces mucus. You experience chest pain. Have a fever above 100°F for more than two days. You have trouble breathing

    Pneumonia

    Symptoms:Cough, which may produce greenish, yellow or even bloody mucus, Fever. Sweating and shaking chills, Shallow breathing and/or shortness of breath. A stabbing pain in the chest that’s aggravated when you cough or attempt to breathe deeply, Fatigue, Loss of appetite, Nausea and vomiting, especially in young children. Confusion or changes in mental awareness in adults over 65

    Duration: Up to three months

    TreatmentStay hydrated, Get plenty of rest, Avoid second-hand smoke and/or quit smoking, Use a humidifier. Inhale warm steam from a hot shower or over a heated pot of water (not boiling) to relieve congestion and loose mucus. Cough as needed to loosen and clear mucus from your airways. Take over-the counter medications including decongestants, antihistamines and pain relievers as needed.  

    When to see a doctor* You have difficulty breathing. Your cough gets worse. You develop a bluish color in your lips and fingertips. You have a persistent fever of 100.8°F or higher by mouth over several days

    *NOTE: Certain people are much more likely to develop life-threatening pneumonia. These include individuals who:are older than 65, are younger than 5 years, have a weakened immune system have an underlying condition including diabetes, chronic heart disease, chronic liver disease, and chronic lung disease, smoke or drink excessively.

    While it’s virtually impossible to avoid viruses that cause the common cold, washing your hands with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol) can help prevent you from catching a cold. Hand washing/sanitizing is especially important after coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, or spending time with someone who is sick.

    To help reduce your risk of contracting pneumonia, consider getting the flu and pneumococcal vaccines, which offer protection from viruses and bacteria known to cause pneumonia.  

    If you’re uncertain what vaccines to get, speak to your healthcare provider.

    Dr. Marie George, MD is an Infectious Disease Specialist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, VT and a member of the Travel Clinic team at the hospital.

     

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