Types of Heart Doctors

Out of the many organs in your body, your heart is perhaps the most important organ you have. Many take it for granted, assuming that it will continue beating forever as it pumps the blood through their veins. But what happens when something goes wrong and this vital organ has a glitch? Of course, the first step is to talk to your family doctor, but he can't always fix the problem. This is when a heart doctor, or cardiologist, comes into the picture. Most people don't know about the vastness of this specialized area of health care. There is more than one type of cardiologist, each specializing in his own area of caring for your heart. In some cases, you may be under the care of multiple heart doctors to ensure you receive the best care possible.

Cardiologist

• This heart doctor is the one who provides the basic cardiovascular care for you, watching over you and your heart a bit more closely than your family doctor can. He is the person you may be referred to initially when you have a heart or blood vessel problem, and depending on your condition, you may need to see on a regular basis. Cardiologists treat patients who have been diagnosed with either carotid artery or heart disease, and monitor closely those who are at risk for having a heart attack, experiencing heart failure or suffering from heart arrhythmia or heart valve problems. They order Holter monitors (devices that record heartbeats while the device is worn) for patients, and evaluate the test results. They also perform simple procedures such as cardiac catheterizations, a procedure which helps diagnose and treat artery blockages, and implant devices such as defibrillators and pacemakers.

Interventional Cardiologists

• These cardiologists specialize in performing heart and blood vessel procedures. Just like regular cardiologists, they perform cardiac catheterizations, but they also perform more intricate procedures such as an angioplasty, which opens up the artery so the blood can continue moving through the heart. In addition, they place stents, which are little metal tubes, into the arteries. These are usually implanted after an angioplasty to ensure the artery stays open and that the blood vessels remain unblocked.

Electrophysiologists

• This type of cardiologist specializes in the electrical paths and currents of the heart. They perform tests like the electrophysiology test, which helps them study the electrical patterns of the heart so they can determine if the heart is beating too fast or slow. They implant devices which help regulate the rate at which the heart beats, as well as devices that help coordinate the pumping action of the heart. In addition, they perform procedures such as an ablation; this helps to restore normal electrical pathways through the heart so it can maintain a regular heartbeat.

Vascular Surgeon

• These cardiologists specialize in more complex surgeries heart patients require, such as bypass surgery and repairing blood vessels that have burst or are weak. They also perform a procedure called endarterectomy, which is done to clear blocked arteries.

Cardiac Surgeon

• This cardiologist specializes in complex surgeries, just as vascular surgeons do, but they perform a larger variety of them. In addition to performing bypass surgeries, they also repair and replace defective heart valves. If a patient suffers from an atrial septal defect, a condition that causes tiny holes in the heart, the cardiac surgeon is the person who repairs them. He also performs heart transplants for those whose hearts cannot be repaired by any other means.