Cardiology

Principle of Cardiology

Cardiology is a medical specialty that deals with pathologies of the heart and other elements of the circulatory system.
Thus, it diagnoses and treats:

Congenital heart defects,
heart failure,
coronary artery disease,
heart failure,
valvular heart disease,
and finally, electrophysiology.
Furthermore, even though the cardiovascular system is inherently linked to blood, cardiology does not deal with hematology and its pathologies.

It should be noted that cardiovascular pathologies are today the main cause of death in Belgium, as in most Western countries.

Pathologies

Here is a non-exhaustive list of conditions treated by cardiology.

Cardiac emergencies
The following are considered cardiac emergencies:

Myocardial infarction (destruction of part of the heart muscle, the myocardium),
a hypertensive crisis (a sudden rise in blood pressure),
or an aneurysm (a lateral bulge formed by dilation of the wall of an artery or the heart)

Heart failure
is the inability of the heart to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. Thus, it is a serious pathology which results, among other things, in disproportionate fatigue and constant shortness of breath.

Congenital malformations
Heart defects alter the normal flow of blood to the lungs and the rest of the body. These are often malformations of the pulmonary artery and the pulmonary valve, resulting in abnormal blood circulation between the right ventricle and the lungs.

Thus, there are different types of congenital heart pathologies such as tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary stenosis, pulmonary atresia, or transposition of the great vessels.

Rhythm and conduction disorders
This is a pathology linked to abnormal variation in the rhythm of the heartbeats, which disrupts its function. These disorders can be of varying severity.

Valve pathologies
Heart valve pathologies refer to a dysfunction of the heart valves, which disrupts intracardiac blood flow and can result in a short, weak heart murmur on a daily basis.

Cardiomyopathies
Cardiomyopathies (or myocardiopathies) correspond to a group of diseases that affect the myocardium, in other words the heart muscle that allows the heart to perform its pumping function. Thus, by altering the muscle tone of the heart, cardiomyopathies prevent the heart from functioning normally, and therefore from circulating blood throughout the body.

Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a disease of the blood vessels in which the diameter decreases due to the accumulation of lipids in the walls.

High blood pressure
This condition accelerates heart fatigue by increasing the workload of the heart muscle, which, as it enlarges, becomes less efficient. This disease is one of the first risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Coronary artery disease
Coronary artery disease is a condition that affects the arteries that supply blood to the heart. It is often associated with atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaques inside the walls of the arteries. Thus, this accumulation gradually narrows the interior of the arteries and slows the flow of blood.

Peripheral vascular disease
Peripheral vascular disease is characterized by a decrease in blood flow to the arteries of the trunk, arms, and legs.

Cerebrovascular disease
Finally, in collaboration with neurology, cardiology treats cerebrovascular diseases.

Find all our medical specialties here.