I initiated this blog early in 2020 in anticipation of starting a new cardiology practice at Pima Heart & Vascular. I had always thought it would be fun to write about topics covering the breadth of problems that arise in the field of cardiovascular medicine and this career transition seemed like a good opportunity to achieve that aim. I hope…
For the third year in a row, I am writing a blog on the status of Covid-19. As time goes on, there are fewer new things to say about it. In addition, it seems that the public has made their peace with its presence, as it no longer is dominating conversations or is foremost amongst people’s fears. While it is…
Last week I described a patient who had an abnormal stress echocardiogram, but turned out to have no significant blockage in her coronary arteries. This week I’ll tell you about a patient I saw not long ago who had had a normal nuclear stress test (see “Services” section of this website to learn more about this test), but ended up having…
A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with a patient that surprised her. Her test result had been incorrect. She is a 57-year old woman who had been having chest pain for the last several months, though the symptoms weren’t necessarily with exertion. I had ordered a stress echocardiogram (see “Services” section of this website for a description of what this test…
Covid never went away, but “Redux” refers to a return of this topic in my blog. For I have had Covid this week. I had thought I was going to escape this insidious infection, as I had been exposed multiple times to patients who turned out to be Covid positive. But I was infected by a friend with whom I was rooming…
Last year at this time I wrote a blog asking if we were seeing the beginning of the end of Covid-19. The first vaccines were getting rolled out and we were all optimistic that the end was in sight. That hope was strengthened in the Spring, as we finally started seeing substantial decreases in the number of new Covid cases and associated…
As we celebrate World Heart Day, I have to say that I have mixed feelings at what we have accomplished. On the one hand, we have made amazing strides in the last 30 years in decreasing coronary artery disease in the United States, not only preventing heart attacks, but treating them with new devices and medications that have dropped their lethality…
As 2020 winds down, I know that we all wish it a good riddance. Our country has been devastated by racial and political strife, unearthly wildfires, and the scourge of COVID-19. If there is a bright spot in this dreadful year, it is that two vaccines are now being rolled out—one from Pfizer last week and one from Moderna coming…
Now that we’ve covered the various types of valvular heart disease, let’s look at it from a different perspective and discuss heart murmurs. Most patients think that a heart murmur and a valve problem are identical, but there are important differences. Understanding this will help you make sense of why you don’t always need to be concerned about a heart…