ARRANGE TO SEE DR RICARDO PETRACO:
If you have symptoms of heart disease
If you want a cardiac check-up, want to understand your risks of developing heart disease and discuss prevention,
If you have been diagnosed with a heart condition and want a second opinion from an expert cardiologist,
Or if you have had COVID and are experiencing persisting symptoms.
Angina
A sensation of tightness or pain in your chest, jaw, neck or arm when you are exercising or stressed could represent lack of blood supply to your heart muscle, or angina. You will likely need tests to find out whether you have any blocked or narrowed arteries around your heart.
A specialist assessment is important to differentiate angina from other causes of chest pains. You can book a face to face or video consultation here.
In this blog, Dr Ricardo Petraco discuss possible causes of chest pains
Palpitations
or irregular pulse
Palpitations are often described as the sensation of the heart beating out of synch, irregularly, or too fast. They can be very disturbing, but they are rarely a sign of a serious problem in the absence of other high-risk features, such as chest pains or collapses.
Often a consultation and simple tests like ECG and ECG monitors (Holters) will be sufficient to establish a benign cause of your palpitations.
Dr Ricardo Petraco discusses this symptom in his blog here:
Unexplained Collapses
(syncope)
Collapses with loss of consciousness could simply represent fainting (sudden variability of blood pressure) but equally could be a sign of a more sinister heart problem. You should see a cardiologist particularly if you have recurrent episodes or if they occur without any types of warning.
You will need tests including ECG and Echocardiography to find out whether your heart is normal. Also, you will need some type of ECG monitoring (Holter) so heart rhythm abnormalities (too fast or too slow) can also be excluded.
It is often possible to reassure you with a simple consultation and simple tests. Click here to arrange it.
Dr Ricardo Petraco discusses this issue on his blog here (to be added later).
Check-Up
and Prevention
In medicine, but particularly with heart matters, preventing a problem is always better (and cheaper) than treating it when it has already developed. Therefore, seeing a heart specialist for a preventative consultation involves establishing your individual risk of future heart problems. This can be achieved via answering a few questions and via simple tests such cholesterol and diabetes screening.
You should think of cardiovascular disease prevention once you reach 35-40, or even before that if you have a strong family history of early cardiac disease or if you are planning to engage in competitive exercise.
To book a cardiovascular risk screening consultation click here.
For more information about cardiovascular disease prevention, click bellow:
COVID
Persistent shortness of breath, chest pains and palpitations are common in the post-COVID syndrome. They don’t necessarily represent significant damage to the heart muscle caused by COVID, but only a careful specialist assessment can rule that out.
In this blog, Dr Ricardo Petraco discuss such matters in more details.
Second Opinion
From an Expert
It is often very stressful to hear you have a heart condition, and you might need lifelong pills, a high-risk procedure, or an operation. In every case, it is essential that you fully understand your diagnosis and options of treatment and hearing a second opinion can be comforting and reassuring.
Dr Ricardo Petraco is a heart specialist, teacher, and superb communicator. If you feel you need to understand the complexity of your heart problems in a simple and accessible language, please book a second opinion consultation here.
Click hear to view Dr Ricardo Petraco’s media appearances.
Shortness
of breath
Although the sensations of shortness of breath or diminished exercise tolerance can be a sign of heart failure or a weak heart, in most cases they simply represent lack of fitness, caused by overweight, physical deconditioning and the process of ageing.
Only a specialist assessment and investigations can separate the two. Particularly, the function and structure of your heart seen with ultrasound (echocardiogram) are the most important pieces of information to exclude a significant heart problem causing your breathlessness. Click here to book a consultation.
Dr Ricardo Petraco discusses this issue on his blog here (to be added later).
More information about breathlessness and heart failure can be found on this link to the British Heart Foundation.