Cardiology is a field of medicine that studies the vital system of the human body – cardiovascular: features of the structure and function of the heart and blood vessels, causes and mechanisms of pathology; develops and improves methods of diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Considerable attention in cardiology is paid to the rehabilitation of patients with cardiovascular pathology. Unfortunately, heart and vascular diseases have an increasing tendency to affect young people and represent one of the most important problems of modern healthcare.
Practical cardiology develops in two directions: therapeutic cardiology and cardiac surgery. Therapeutic cardiology uses conservative methods (medications, sanatorium treatment) for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases: bradycardia, tachycardia, arrhythmia, extrasystole, vegetative-vascular dystonia, vascular atherosclerosis, arterial hypertension, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, heart failure, myocarditis, pericarditis, endocarditis.
Surgical cardiology surgically eliminates congenital and acquired heart defects and other lesions of the heart and blood vessels, performs prosthetics of valves and blood vessels of the heart.
Cardiovascular diseases are currently considered the most common cause of disability and early mortality in economically prosperous Western countries. According to statistics, the percentage of mortality in cardiovascular diseases is 40-60% annually of the total number of deaths.
The main symptoms that make it possible to suspect the development of cardiovascular diseases are pain that occurs behind the sternum and radiating to the left shoulder or shoulder blade, shortness of breath, persistently elevated blood pressure (blood pressure over 140/90 mm Hg), tachycardia (heart rate more than 100 beats per minute) or bradycardia (pulse less than 50 beats per minute), heart rhythm interruptions, edema. When the first signs of heart and vascular diseases appear, in order to avoid the development of persistent disorders and complications, it is necessary to immediately consult a cardiologist. In the initial period of the development of the disease, the restoration of functions is achieved more easily and with smaller doses of drugs.
Currently, cardiology has reached a new level in terms of equipment with the most modern equipment for rapid and early diagnosis and timely treatment of cardiovascular pathology. The main diagnostic methods in cardiology are: phonocardiography, electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart), daily ECG monitoring. They allow you to assess the contractile function and condition of the heart muscle, cavities, valves and vessels of the heart. Over the past few decades, new methods of examination of patients with cardiopathology have been actively developing: probing of the heart cavities and angiocardiography, which allow for the diagnosis and planning of operations on the heart and coronary vessels.
Modern technologies and methods of treatment of cardiac pathology make it possible to cope with heart diseases that were considered incurable yesterday. With the help of a heart transplant, cardiology today saves the lives of many desperate patients.
The main direction in the complex of preventive measures for the prevention of heart diseases is optimal physical activity, rejection of bad habits, exclusion of nervous overload and stress, healthy nutrition and full rest.
Aortic arch aneurysm is a diffuse or local expansion of the aortic lumen in the segment between its ascending and descending parts, exceeding the normal diameter of the vessel. Disease can manifest itself by shortness of breath, cough, dysphagia, hoarseness of voice, swelling and cyanosis of the face, swelling of the cervical veins, which is…
Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a local bulging or diffuse expansion of the aortic wall in its abdominal region. An abdominal aortic aneurysm may be asymptomatic or manifest itself by pulsation, abdominal pain of varying intensity, with rupture of an aneurysm – by the clinic of intra-abdominal bleeding. Diagnosis of an aneurysm includes an overview radiography…
Aortic aneurysm is a pathological local expansion of a section of the main artery due to the weakness of its walls. Depending on the location of the aortic aneurysm, it can manifest pain in the chest or abdomen, the presence of a pulsating tumor-like formation, symptoms of compression of neighboring organs: shortness of breath, cough,…
Angioma is a collective name for vascular tumors originating from blood or lymphatic vessels. Diseases can have a superficial localization (on the skin and mucous membranes), located in muscles, internal organs (heart, lungs, uterus, liver, spleen, etc.), accompanied by bleeding of varying intensity. Diagnosis is based on examination data, X-ray examination (angiography, lymphangiography), ultrasound. Superficial…
Anasarca is generalized swelling of subcutaneous fat in combination with the accumulation of fluid in the body cavities. The disease is manifested by swelling and pastyness of the whole body, abdominal enlargement, shortness of breath. Laboratory techniques (blood and urine tests, liver tests), instrumental studies (EchoCG, ultrasound of the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal organs) are…
Cardiac amyloidosis is a systemic dysproteinosis that leads to the deposition of amyloid – a specific protein-polysaccharide complex in the tissues of the heart. Cardiac amyloidosis is accompanied by myocardial hypertrophy, a violation of its contractility, the development of chronic circulatory insufficiency, arrhythmias, hypotension, valvular defects. The clinical diagnosis is established using electrocardiography, echocardiography, radiography,…
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy is a lesion of the heart muscle, which is formed against the background of excessive alcohol consumption, manifested by a variety of morphological, functional, clinical disorders. Patients complain of pain behind the sternum, shortness of breath, swelling, cold of the lower extremities. It is possible to develop heart failure, deadly rhythm disturbances, thromboembolism.…