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Heart Disease

Heart Disease services offered in San Fernando Valley, Encino, CA

Heart disease takes many forms, all of which require expert diagnosis and treatment to ensure you experience an optimal quality of life. If you have symptoms of heart disease the team at Cardiac PET Partners offer testing and monitoring services for heart disease, including heart PET scans. They provide state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities at both locations to find the cause of your symptoms that can inform a range of expert heart disease treatments. Call Cardiac PET Partners to schedule a consultation or request one online today.

Heart Disease Q & A

What is heart disease?

Heart disease is a term that covers a wide variety of conditions affecting the functioning of your heart. Examples of heart disease include:

  • Coronary artery disease (CAD)
  • Arrhythmias
  • Heart failure
  • Heart valve disease
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Pericardial disease
  • Aorta disease
  • Heart attack

You can also be born with heart problems, which is known as congenital heart disease.

Cardiac PET Partners offers testing services to evaluate the health and function of your heart. These tests can help your provider track your heart’s health and determine if you have conditions requiring treatment like heart disease.

How can medications be used in heart disease treatment?

Medications perform many functions in heart disease treatment. For instance, in emergency care, clot-dissolving drugs (thrombolysis) can eliminate a blood clot that's causing a heart attack.

Other types of medication that can help treat heart disease include:

  • Anticoagulants
  • Anti-platelet agents
  • Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
  • Angiotensin II receptor blockers
  • Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors
  • Beta-blockers
  • Combined alpha and beta-blockers
  • Calcium channel blockers
  • Cholesterol-lowering medications
  • Digitalis
  • Diuretics
  • Vasodilators

Many forms of heart disease are treatable with a combination of medication and lifestyle changes, avoiding the need for more invasive treatments.

Are there other nonsurgical heart disease treatments?

Many types of heart disease are treatable using nonsurgical means. Cardiac catheterization techniques enable your provider to access your heart through arteries in your groin or elsewhere using slim, flexible tubes called catheters.

Angioplasty, or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is one type of treatment that uses this approach. Balloon angioplasty is a cardiac catheterization technique that involves using a tiny balloon to flatten plaque that's blocking an artery.

An alternative technique is laser angioplasty, where your cardiologist uses a beam of focused light energy to clear the artery. They might also insert a small mesh tube called a stent to hold the artery open.

Atherectomy also uses cardiac catheterization, but instead of squashing the plaque, your cardiologist uses a tiny blade to scrape it away.

What other types of heart disease treatment might I need?

In some cases, surgery might be necessary to address the cause of your heart disease. One of the most common surgical procedures for treating heart disease is coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to replace a diseased artery.

Implantable devices might sometimes be necessary to treat certain types of heart disease, such as a pacemaker, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Your provider may also use electrical cardioversion, a noninvasive way of restoring normal heart rhythms.

Find out more about heart disease by calling Cardiac PET Partners or requesting an appointment online today.