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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    FAQs about Bone Density Testing
    Anonym
    / Categories: WELLNESS, 2021

    FAQs about Bone Density Testing

    There are only two ways to know whether or not your bones are at risk for fractures. The first way is to break a bone doing something that wouldn’t typically cause a bone to break. Fractures in fragile porous bones can be caused by as little as a cough or sneeze.

    The second and preferable way is to get a bone density test. The test can confirm a diagnosis of osteoporosis, literally porous bones. Having osteoporosis means that your bones break down faster than they can rebuild, which causes slow bone loss over time. Osteoporosis is a state where bone fractures are more likely, and addressing underlying causes and considering medications can help reduce your risk of having a fracture in your lifetime. Bone density tests can also help monitor the progress of osteoporosis treatment.

    What causes drops in bone density? Many things can cause decreases in bone density. Decreased hormone levels due to aging, menopause, some cancer treatments, organ transplant drugs, and long-term steroid medications all interfere with the bone rebuilding process and can lead to osteoporosis.

    What is a bone density test? Bone density tests, sometimes referred to as DXA scans or bone densitometry, use X-rays to measure how many grams of calcium and other bone minerals are packed into a segment of bone. DXA stands for dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The machine sends two X-ray beams at different peak energy frequencies to the target bones. One peak is absorbed by the soft tissue, the other by bone. When you subtract one from the other, you are left with the bone mineral density. The most common bones tested are the spine, hip, and forearm.

    Who should have a bone density test? Your doctor may recommend a scan if:

    • You’re a woman whose doctor determines you’re estrogen deficient and at risk for osteoporosis, based on your medical history and other findings.
    • Your X-rays show possible osteoporosis, osteopenia, or vertebral fractures.
    • You’re taking prednisone or steroid-type drugs or are planning to begin this treatment.
    • You’ve been diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism.
    • You’re being monitored to see if your osteoporosis drug therapy is working.

    What will I learn? DXA can measure bone density within 2 – 4 percent, while X-ray alone can only detect bone loss that is greater than 40 percent. Your doctor will review the results with you. A score of -1 or above is normal. A score between -1.1 and -2.4 means that you are at greater risk for fracture, and a score below -2.5 means that you have osteoporosis and are at high risk for fracture. Note that a bone density test can confirm that you have low bone density, but it can't tell you why. To answer that question, you need a more complete medical evaluation.

    Does it hurt? No. At SVMC, the test is done in the Breast Health and Imaging Center. It is noninvasive and more accurate than a regular X-ray. It involves an extremely low level of radiation. You discontinue calcium supplements 24 hours before the test. You change into a hospital gown and allow the technologist to position your body to obtain the best scan. It takes just a few minutes.

    What does it cost? Not all health insurance plans pay for bone density tests, so ask your insurance provider beforehand if you're covered. Medicare Part B covers DEXA scans once every 2 years for people who meet one of the criteria above.  

    If I have osteoporosis, how is it treated? There are prescription medications, hormone therapies, and vitamins available to help strengthen your bones. The medications help slow the rate that bones break down. In some cases, they also help rebuild bone. Lifestyle changes, like increasing exercise and improving nutrition, can help as well.

    Amy Freeth, MD, is an endocrinologist at SVMC Endocrinology in Bennington, Vermont.

     

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