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. 

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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    How 5 Minutes Could Prevent a Heart Attack
    Anonym

    How 5 Minutes Could Prevent a Heart Attack

    In the past, there was only one way to predict someone’s likelihood of having a heart attack; we considered risk factors. People with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, a family history of heart disease, smokers, and people with a sedentary lifestyle were considered at greater risk, as were those who are male and over the age of 45 or female and over the age of 55. From there we made recommendations about lifestyle changes or medications they could use to bring their risk down.

    This method of predicting risk was good enough, because it was all we had. Now, we are fortunate to have a medical test, specifically for people who are medium-to-high risk of having a heart attack. Note: This test is not for low risk individuals. It’s called calcium scoring. Through advanced imaging, we can measure the calcium on the inside of your vessels. We translate the amount of vessel-hardening calcium we find into a “score.” The higher your score the greater the likelihood of heart attack.

    The score can go on to help us make better-informed decisions for patients. For instance, someone might have risk factors for a heart attack but have a low calcium score.  The lower your calcium score is the less plaque is present and the less risk there is for heart disease.  The test allows us to determine that with more accuracy than ever before. We can go on to use that information to help us make better recommendations for the patient.

    Here’s what you need to know:

    Getting registered for the test is easy, too. First, consult your insurance provider regarding whether the test is covered. If not, the cost of the test is just $100 when you pay on the day of your visit. A $25 fee for reading the test will be billed. Next, discuss the test with your primary care physician. If you are at risk of a heart attack, your physician will provide an order for the test. Finally, a scheduler will call you to schedule it.

    Here’s what to expect when you arrive:

    • The calcium scoring test is conducted with an ordinary CT scan. It does involve a small amount of radiation. Your doctor will be able to advise whether the risk of a small amount of additional radiation exposure would relate to a  benefit for you.  
    • It’s easy, non-invasive, and painless.
    • A technologist will ask you to remove all of your jewelry and metal items. You may not be required to change your clothes.
    • You’ll be asked to lie on an examination table, and sensors, placed on your chest, will synchronize the scan with your heart beat.
    • The whole tests takes as little as 5 minutes.
    • Your doctor will provide your results and make recommendations for follow-up care.

    If you have some heart attack risk factors, getting your calcium score could be your next best step. It will provide a true measure of your heart attack risk and even help you and your doctor determine the risk/benefit ratio of certain heart medications. In any case, you will gain powerful information to improve your health or provide peace of mind.

    Scott Rogge, MD, is a cardiologist with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s Cardiology Department and SVMC Cardiology.

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