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.

    related articles

    Managing Congestive Heart Failure
    Anonym
    / Categories: WELLNESS, 2022

    Managing Congestive Heart Failure

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 6.2 million adults in the United States have congestive heart failure. While the disease is a contributing factor to nearly 400,000 deaths per year, people with heart failure can use a number of tools and habits to manage it and continue living well. 

    Weigh in. Every morning, after you go to the bathroom but before eating, use a digital scale to weigh yourself in your bedclothes. Make sure your scale is on a hard floor, not on a rug or carpet. If you have a blood pressure cuff, use it to keep track of your blood pressure.

    Avoid salt. Did you know that there is 2,300 mg of sodium in one teaspoon of salt? That’s more than you should have in a whole day. For those who have congestive heart failure, one salty or sodium-heavy meal can cause a trip to the Emergency Room. Avoid high-salt foods, like deli meat (ham, pastrami, smoked turkey, or bologna), hot dogs, bacon, and sausage and condiments and sauces that are high in sodium, like soy sauce, steak sauce, barbecue sauce, canned gravies, and cooking sherry or cooking wine.

    Beware of seemingly healthy substitutes. Salt by any other name is still salt. Don’t be fooled into thinking that garlic, onion, or celery salt are good substitutes. Sea salt is still 99.9% sodium chloride, the same ingredient in regular table salt that makes you retain fluid. Despite claims, it is not good for you! Some salt substitutes include potassium, which can be harmful if you have kidney or other health issues or if you are taking certain medications. Check with your healthcare provider before introducing a salt substitute.

    Look for hidden salt. Avoid foods with the word “soda” on the ingredients list, such as baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or sodium carbonate. Preservatives such as sodium alginate, sodium sulfite, or sodium benzoate in processed foods also add to their high-sodium content. Try low-sodium and low-fat snacks such as homemade popcorn, low-fat yogurt, and rice cakes. Be sure to check the label for sodium and fat content. When eating out, ask for sauces or dressings on the side and avoid fried foods. Avoid fast foods like pizza, burgers, fried foods, and Chinese food.

    The best alternative. Learn to eat a low-salt diet by focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh meat and fish. Try cooking simple meals from scratch. Fresh-squeezed lemon juice or lime juice are good flavor boosters.

    Get some exercise, but not too much. Talk to your health care provider about a safe and effective workout for your fitness level. Try to get some aerobic exercise every day, even if just for a few minutes. Frequency and duration are more important than intensity. Some exercises, like yoga and tai chi, also help relieve stress. No matter what activity or exercise program you start, remember to start slowly. As you get stronger, you can gradually increase your workouts. Choose an activity you enjoy and have family members or a friend join you to make it fun. Every day should have an equal mix of activity and rest. Finally, be sure to get plenty of sleep each night.

    Keep in touch with your provider. Keep your appointments with your health care providers and stay up-to-date on your vaccinations. Your provider can help monitor your fluid intake, especially if you are struggling with fluid retention or taking higher doses of diuretics (water pills such as Furosemide or Torsemide). Your provider can also work with you to determine your “dry weight,” your weight without extra fluid, and explain why it is important.

    Know when to get help. Call your healthcare provider if you have:

    • Difficulty breathing during routine activities that were previously no problem.
    • Rapid weight gain of 2 to 3 lbs. in a day or 5 lbs. in a week.
    • Bloating or pain in your abdomen or loss of appetite.
    • Dry, hacking cough, especially when you lie down.

    Congestive heart failure is among the more difficult diseases to manage. With a lot of self-discipline and serious habit-changing effort, it is possible to live well and fully.

    Scott Rogge, MD, FACC, is a cardiologist with SVMC Cardiology, part of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center and Southwestern Vermont Health Care, in Bennington.

    Print
    8851
    Tags: heart disease heart failure heart health heart congestive heart failure

    Theme picker

    Theme picker

    MORE NEWS

    Theme picker

    VIEW ALL

    Our Services

    PARTNERSHIP IS POWERFUL MEDICINE

    A commitment to excellence and a patient-centered approach sets Southwestern Vermont Health Care apart.

     Cancer Care
     Orthopedics
     Emergency
     Maternity
     Primary Care
     ExpressCare
     Cardiology
     Rehab & Residential Care
    View All Services

    Theme picker

    Theme picker

    Theme picker

    VIEW ALL