Cardiovascular

Whether you begin cardiac care in the emergency room or your primary care doctor recommends a heart monitor test, your care will be provided by top cardiac specialists, nurses and caregivers at Lowell General. Our cardiovascular team has compassion, years of experience, breakthrough treatments and personalized care plans to help you stay healthy.

Our hearts are in the communities we serve — bringing you the most advanced care and the latest diagnostic and treatment capabilities. We provide vital cardiology services under one roof, including in-house cardiac catheterization, cardiology, arrhythmia and interventional radiology.

Our experienced cardiologists and vascular surgeons work closely with nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide a wide range of cardiac and vascular specialties and nationally renowned programs.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) happens when the heart develops abnormally before you're born. It can mean the heart’s chambers, valves, blood vessels or electrical pathways have an irregular structure. CHD is a genetic disease, meaning it’s passed down in families. In fact, the presence of CHD in parents is the highest risk factor. That’s why it’s so important to be in tune with your family’s health history.

Aortic diseases are a group of conditions that affect your aorta. It's also one of the most common forms of cardiovascular disease. Because the aorta is your body’s largest artery, it’s vulnerable to conditions like aortic aneurysms, which can impact the size, shape and function of the aorta.

The 2 most common types of aortic aneurysms are:

• Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), which develop in the abdomen
• Thoracic aortic aneurysms, which develop in the chest

Electrical signals in the heart tell your heart when to pump blood or contract, which is what creates your heartbeat. Sometimes, those signals get crossed, making your heart beat irregularly.

This is called arrhythmia, and the condition occurs when the heart isn’t beating properly — either too fast, too slow or irregularly. While it's not always a serious or chronic condition, it can have a major effect on your heart and overall health.

Sometimes, the body overproduces white blood cells. When this happens, these extra white blood cells form into clumps (called granulomas) and inflame the organs and tissues they usually protect, like the heart. This is called sarcoidosis, and when it affects the heart, it's called cardiac sarcoidosis.

Cardiac sarcoidosis is a rare immune system disease where granulomas cause inflammation and can weaken the body’s electrical system that controls your heartbeat.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic condition where the heart muscle becomes too thick. This can make it challenging for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body. When the thickened muscle partially or completely blocks blood flow from the heart, it’s known as obstructive HCM. If the thickened muscle doesn’t obstruct blood flow, the condition is called nonobstructive HCM.

Valvular and structural heart diseases develop when at least 1 of the 4 heart valves don’t circulate blood as well as they should, leading to conditions like stenosis, prolapse and regurgitation. Valvular heart disease can be something you're born with (congenital) or developed over time (acquired).

Vascular diseases like peripheral artery disease (PAD) and carotid artery disease can take a toll on how blood vessels circulate blood, nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. When something as complex and delicate as your vascular system isn't working as it should, it can have a major effect on your health and quality of life.

With cardiac rehabilitation, our team of experts provide skills and guidance to help get your heart health back on track. That means performing stretches and exercises you'd experience with physical therapy. We also lend a helping hand on making lifestyle changes — stopping tobacco use, eating a healthy diet and managing stress — your new normal.

Interventional cardiology is a medical specialty that treats heart and blood vessel conditions using catheters. Compared to open heart surgery, interventional cardiology requires smaller surgical incisions and less recovery time.

These treatment approaches can restore proper blood flow, repair holes in the heart, implant lifesaving medical devices and reduce a person’s risk of stroke or heart attack.

Implantable medical devices can help restore key heart functions like beating regularly and pumping blood when the heart can’t perform them on their own.

A person who has faced a heart attack, cardiogenic shock or advanced heart failure may require mechanical circulatory support to pump blood throughout their body when the weakened heart can’t. A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a type of long-term or short-term treatment to help your vital organs get the right amount of blood.

Between routine heart screenings and maintaining healthy habits over time, practicing preventive cardiology methods will help keep your heart healthy and strong. The real secret to wellness is maintaining healthy habits over time. How you eat and move today can protect you from heart disease in the future.

Common heart attack symptoms include:

• Significant chest pain
• Significant difficulty breathing
• Rapid or irregular heartbeat 

It's very important to know that heart attack symptoms present differently in women and assigned females at birth (AFABs). Some of the most common heart attack symptoms for women include:

• A sudden cold sweat
• Back, neck and jaw pain
• Chest pain, pressure and discomfort
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Nausea
• Shortness of breath
• Stomach pain

If you're unsure of your symptoms, please call your doctor's office or a triage nurse from your health plan. If you're experiencing severe symptoms, call 911 immediately.

Certain risk factors like age and family can increase your risk of a heart attack. But there are many heart-healthy choices you can make to lower your risk, including:

• Don't use tobacco in any form
• Eat a heart-healthy diet 
• Increase your physical activity to at least 2.5 hours of aerobic activity per week
• Limit alcohol consumption to up to 1 drink per day for women and assigned females at birth (AFABs), and up to 2 drinks per day for men and assigned males at birth (AMABs)
• Maintain a healthy blood pressure of ideally less than 130/80, but at least less than 140/90
• Maintain a healthy body weight, with an ideal BMI less than 25 but at least less than 30 depending on what you've identified with your doctor
• Manage your cholesterol levels, with an ideal HgA1c of less than 7% but may vary depending on goals you've identified with your doctor
• Manage your stress and avoid stressful situations whenever possible
• Monitor blood sugar if you have diabetes