What Is an LVAD? Readers Comments 2 Share Your Story The left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, is a mechanical pump that is implanted inside a person’s chest to help a weakened heart ventricle pump blood throughout the body. Unlike a total artificial heart, the LVAD doesn’t replace the heart. It just helps it do …
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Heart Disease: Lead Extraction Complications and Procedure
Heart lead extraction facts A pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) deliver energy to the heart muscle through wires called leads. A lead extraction is the removal of one or more leads from inside the heart. Leads that are placed outside the heart during open heart surgery cannot be removed during this type of procedure. When Is a Lead Extraction …
Read More »Stroke Prevention: Get Facts About Diet and Medication
Introduction If you’re like most Americans, you plan for your future. When you take a job, you examine its benefit plan. When you buy a home, you consider its location and condition so that your investment is safe. Today, more and more Americans are protecting their most important asset–their health. Are you? Stroke ranks as the third leading killer in …
Read More »Heart Disease: Get Facts About How a Sick Heart Functions
Vascular disease includes any condition that affects the circulatory system. As the heart beats, it pumps blood through a system of blood vessels called the circulatory system. The vessels are elastic tubes that carry blood to every part of the body. Arteries carry blood away from the heart while veins return it. Vascular disease ranges from diseases of your arteries, …
Read More »Myocardial Biopsy: Read About the Procedure
Myocardial Biopsy Introduction A heart biopsy, also called myocardial biopsy or cardiac biopsy, is an invasive procedure to detect heart disease that involves using a bioptome (a small catheter with a grasping device on the end) to obtain a small piece of heart muscle tissue that is sent to a laboratory for analysis. Why Do I Need a Myocardial Biopsy? …
Read More »Stress and Heart Disease: Get Facts on the Warning Signs
Heart disease and stress introduction Are stress and heart disease related? Does stress increase the risk of heart disease? Stress is a normal part of life. But if left unmanaged, stress can lead to emotional, psychological, and even physical problems, including: heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pains, or irregular heart beats. How Does Stress Increase the Risk for Heart …
Read More »Heart Valve Disease: Get facts on Symptoms and Treatment
According to the American Heart Association, about 5 million Americans are diagnosed with valvular heart disease each year. What Is Valvular Heart Disease? Heart valve disease occurs when your heart's valves do not work the way they should. How Do Heart Valves Work? Your heart valves lie at the exit of each of your four heart chambers and maintain one-way …
Read More »Transmyocardial Laser Revascularization: Facts on Treatment
TMR is a new procedure used to treat inoperable heart disease in people with persistent angina that isn’t relieved by any other method. Most people with coronary artery disease are treated with angioplasty and stenting or, coronary bypass surgery and medications to improve blood flow to the heart muscle. If these procedures do not eliminate the symptoms of chest pain …
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