Cardiology

HARMONIA Medical Center has qualified physicians and all the equipment needed for accurate diagnosis of complaints related to the heart and cardiovascular system. Cardiology is the science of the heart and cardiovascular system: their structure, diseases and treatment, and the accurate assessment of prognosis (the possible course of a disease). A physician who practices cardiology is called a cardiologist. Cardiology covers the diagnosis and treatment of all diseases of the cardiovascular system, including high blood pressure (arterial hypertension), heart rhythm disorders, ischemic heart disease (angina pectoris), heart defects (acquired valvular defects and congenital heart defects), inflammatory diseases of the heart muscle and its membranes (myocarditis, pericarditis, and endocarditis), and myocardial infarction. In recent years, a very important task of cardiology has been reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease through prevention and preventive cardiology. Given that nearly 60% of mortality in Bulgaria is due to diseases of the circulatory system, HARMONIA Medical Center encourages you to have preventive cardiology examinations to help avoid cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular diseases can progress rapidly, so frequent monitoring is necessary, particularly in acute coronary syndromes, hypertensive crises, and inflammatory heart diseases. Treating these diseases requires highly qualified physicians with extensive clinical experience who can provide a prompt and accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and an accurate assessment of the prognosis (the possible course of the disease). Each patient is offered individual attention and a treatment and recovery program that includes: 1. A medical examination by a highly qualified team 2. Precise investigations 3. An accurate diagnosis 4. A recommendation for appropriate treatment 5. Recommendations for personal preventive care to avoid future cardiovascular problems. Heart diseases are generally divided into congenital and acquired conditions. Congenital conditions result from heart valve defects, such as stenosis or insufficiency, defects of the ventricular or atrial septa, or transposition of the great arteries. Acquired heart diseases affect the valves and coronary vessels, as well as the entire heart and its constituent layers: the epicardium, myocardium, and pericardium. They may be caused by: – infectious factors, such as bacteria, which most often affect the endocardium and heart valves – non-infectious causes, including systemic diseases such as lupus erythematosus, rheumatism, and others. Heart disease is very often the result of diseases affecting other organs in the human body, including the kidneys (parenchymal diseases and tumors) and endocrine factors such as diabetes, thyrotoxicosis, myxedema, and pheochromocytoma, as well as cardiovascular insufficiency associated with ischemic disease and high blood pressure. Echocardiography is one of the principal methods used to examine the heart. It is non-invasive and requires no special preparation by the patient. It is based on the behavior of ultrasound when it encounters denser or hollow organs and fluids. The examination can identify defects and perforations of the valves and the ventricular and atrial septa, papillary muscle rupture, recent or scarred infarct areas, right or left ventricular hypertrophy associated with lung disease, high blood pressure and other diseases, pericardial effusion, and ejection fraction. Doppler (color) echocardiography is used to assess cardiac blood flow in the chambers and coronary vessels, cardiac output, and infarct areas.