Cardiology

A cardiologist is a doctor that has been trained to find, treat and prevent heart and blood vessel diseases.  A cardiologist can be called the "general contractor" of your heart, with electricians (electrophysiology cardiologists) and plumbers (interventional cardiologists) as specialists in heart care. Cardiologists may refer to a cardiac surgeon (cardiothoracic and cardiovascular), if heart surgery is needed.

The heart has its own "electrical" and "plumbing" systems. The electrical system is how the heart beats and is controlled by heart cells that create an electrical pathway. The plumbing system concerns the blood vessels and the blood flowing through them.  

Heart disease refers to heart and blood vessel conditions. These conditions include coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), heart conditions present at birth (congenital heart disease), congestive heart failure and other heart conditions.  Heart disease can cause heart attacks, strokes and other complications.  

Heart disease can often be treated if found early. You may prevent or improve heart disease if you exercise, eat a healthy diet, quit smoking, lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and maintain a healthy weight.

Legacy Heart Services offers office and in-patient consultations, preventive care, non-invasive imaging, invasive diagnostics, treatments and rehabilitation. Some of our services include:

• Education and support on lifestyle modification such as diet, exercise and tobacco cessation
• Medical management of risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides
• Medical management of heart disease, such as coronary artery disease, vascular disease and structural heart abnormalities 

• Diagnostic angiography
• Cardiac and vascular ultrasound
• Cardiovascular catheterization
• CT calcium scoring
• Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG)
• Electrophysiological (EP) studies 
• Stress testing 
• MUGA (multigated acquisition) scans
• Tilt table 

• Catheter ablation
• Coronary artery intervention, including angioplasty and stenting
• Pacemaker/implantable defibrillators

As a health system with six hospitals and dedicated children’s care offered at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel and more than 70 primary care, specialty and urgent care clinics, we offer convenient, close-to-home access to easily get the information you need for diagnosis and treatment planning.