PET/CT & Cardiovascular Disease Procedures

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States of America. Cardiovascular disease actually refers to diseases of the heart and the blood vessel system contained within the heart.

Heart disease and cardiovascular disease are catchall terms that describe a variety of specific health problems caused by disorders to the heart and the blood vessel systems.

There are a number of different categories of heart and cardiovascular diseases, including:

• Ischemic Heart Disease:

This category refers to diseases caused by blood flow obstruction.

• Angina:

This refers to the chest pain that occurs as a reaction to the heart’s receiving an inadequate blood supply during periods of increased demand.

• Myocardial Infarction (MI):

Commonly known as a heart attack, MI occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle is either severely reduced or stopped.

• Valvular Heart Disease:

This category of heart disease refers to disorders affecting the four heart valves that assist the pumping of blood by opening and closing by allowing blood to flow through the heart in only one direction when it contracts.

• Cardiomyopathy:

This category refers to any disease of the heart muscle.

• Congestive Heart Failure:

This condition occurs when normal blood flow is not maintained due to a condition affecting the proper function of the heart muscle.

• Bacterial Endocarditis:

This condition refers to infections of the heart valves and heart lining and is present in individuals with: structural abnormalities of the heart, valve malfunctions, artificial valves, or are injection drug users.

• Arrhythmia:

This category refers to irregular heartbeats caused by a malfunction in the electronic signals that stimulate heartbeat.

• Non-coronary Cardiovascular Disease:

This category refers to diseases affecting the circulatory system but not directly the heart. The two most common forms of this disease are hypertension and stroke.

Cardiovascular diseases can occur for any number of reasons, however there are four main causes: Smoking, High Blood Pressure, High Blood Cholesterol and Family history.