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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    Spring Travel Guide
    Anonym
    / Categories: WELLNESS, 2021

    Spring Travel Guide

    As the weather warms up, there’s not a person alive who doesn’t yearn to ditch COVID-19 precautions and hit the open road. In fact, when I asked people what they’d like to do after the pandemic, the number one response was “go visit family,” and number two was, “go on vacation!” But the optimism brought on by ever-higher rates of vaccination is tempered by the threat of new variants. As a whole, we are still in a pandemic. 

    The aim of this article is to deliver information that will allow you to have as much fun as possible without putting yourself or others at very high risk of catching COVID-19. There are two important things we should note: (1) The risk will never be zero. Even if we follow all of the precautions, we may get COVID-19. (2) The vaccines are powerful. They provide excellent protection. Vaccinated people are less likely to become symptomatic, get seriously ill, or spread COVID-19. So, the restrictions for those who are vaccinated are different than the restrictions for those who are not.

    Before we get to that, there are a few precautions that apply to everyone.

    • Everyone who goes out in public, regardless of vaccination status or travel destination, should wear a mask over nose and mouth, stay distanced from others, avoid crowds, and wash or sanitize hands often.
    • No one should travel if they or a member of their household or close contacts is sick, if they have been exposed to COVID-19, if they have tested positive for COVID-19, or if they are waiting for COVID-19 test results.

    Now, here’s a look at some potential travel ideas along with recommendations from the Vermont Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for each group. Note: you are fully vaccinated when it has been 14 days since your final dose of vaccine.

    Day trip, regional trip, or cross-country adventure
    Fully vaccinated: According to the     CDC, fully vaccinated people traveling within the United States do not need to get tested or self-quarantine before or after travel, unless their destination requires it. After travel, vaccinated people should monitor for symptoms and isolate and get tested for COVID-19 if symptoms develop.

    Not-yet fully vaccinated or unvaccinated: It’s best to delay domestic travel until you are fully vaccinated. If you must travel, the CDC recommends that you get tested with a viral test 1 – 3 days before your trip.

    According to Vermont Department of Health updates released today, you should also get tested within 3 days of returning, but you don’t need to quarantine while you wait for a result. If you develop symptoms, stay home and away from other people.

    The CDC adds that if your test is positive, isolate for 10 days or until you are symptom free without fever-reducing medications for 48 hours, whichever is longer. And all unvaccinated people should avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days.

    International travel
    Fully vaccinated: Pay close attention to the situation and virus spread in the area you plan to visit. Make sure you follow all of the travel, testing and quarantine guidance for your destination. Note that you may be denied entry. You do not need to get tested before traveling internationally, unless your destination requires it. All air passengers coming to the United States, including U.S. citizens and fully vaccinated people,     are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days before travel or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months before they board a flight to the United States. Get a viral test for COVID-19 3 – 5 days after travel. You do not need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.

    Not-yet fully vaccinated: CDC recommends delaying international travel until you are able to get fully vaccinated. Those who are not-yet fully vaccinated must do everything that the vaccinated people must do, plus:

    • Quarantine for a full 7 days after travel.
    • Get a viral test 3 – 5 days after travel, and remain quarantined for the full 7 days regardless of the result.
    • Those who test positive must isolate.
    • Those who don’t get tested must quarantine for 10 days.
    • Avoid being around people at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days.

    The bottom line is that it is a lot easier, less risky, and more fun to travel (and do everything else, like host a cookout or go shopping), once you’re vaccinated. Visit https://www.healthvermont.gov/ to register for your vaccination today.

    Marie George, MD, FIDSA, is an infectious disease specialist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, VT.

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    Tags: vaccination COVID-19 travel

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