Cardiology: A Comprehensive Guide

Cardiology is the area of medicine dealing with diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Physicians specialising in preventing, diagnosing and treating these diseases are cardiologists (or paediatric cardiologists for children). Doctors who operate on the heart and lungs are cardiothoracic surgeons. This comprehensive guide on cardiology addresses how errors such as misdiagnosis of cardiac diseases may lead to complex legal cases.

Delay or failure to diagnose serious cardiac disease

Sadly, we see cases where there has been a delay or failure to diagnose serious cardiac disease as well as errors in the management of various cardiovascular conditions.

Errors such as misdiagnosing a heart attack as gastritis or indigestion or not providing proper or timely treatment for high blood pressure or arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) can have devastating effects, including brain damage and even death.

Other crucial errors may include delaying or misinterpreting scans and tests, such as x-ray, D-dimer test, CT scan, carotid artery ultrasound, ECG and coronary calcium scores.

Heart disease is very common in the population.  There is a wide range of cardiac conditions for which your GP may refer you to a cardiologist or for which you might attend the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department.

Examples of conditions affecting the heart

Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)

A heart attack happens when the blood supply to a particular area of heart muscle is completely cut off, resulting in death of the muscle and, if not treated properly, abnormal heart rhythms, heart failure and ultimately death.

It is commonly caused by a narrowing of the blood vessels transporting blood and oxygen to the heart muscles (coronary arteries), often because of smoking, high blood pressure or cholesterol or a family history of heart disease.

Typical symptoms involve the sudden onset of crushing central chest pain, which may radiate down the left arm or up into the jaw, shortness of breath, palpitations and sweating.  It is important to diagnose and treat heart attacks promptly to minimise damage to heart muscle tissue and failure to do so can result in more extensive damage or even death.

Heart Failure

Heart failure (cardiac failure) is when the heart no longer pumps as efficiently as it should.  Causes can include high blood pressure, damaged heart muscle or valve disease.  Symptoms include shortness of breath and ankle swelling.  It is often treated with medication such as diuretics (water tablets) to remove excess fluids and improve heart function.

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure (hypertension) increases your risk of illness so must be properly controlled.  Persistent high blood pressure (greater than 160/100 for young adults) is associated with strokes, heart attacks, blindness, heart failure and kidney failure.

Diseases or abnormalities affecting the Heart Valves and Rhythm

Valves control the flow of blood through your heart and any abnormality or damage can affect the functioning of the heart.  Treatment often involves medication or surgery.

Similarly, disturbances to the electrical activity that maintains the heart’s rhythm can cause an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).  Arrhythmias often need treatment with medication or a procedure (such as an ablation) to alter the conduction of electrical impulses in the heart.

Treatment of valve or rhythm problems is important to prevent serious complications such as a stroke.

These are only a handful of examples of conditions affecting the heart.  Others, such as infections (endocarditis, myocarditis and rheumatic heart disease), congenital heart disease and diseases of the covering of the heart (for example pericarditis), will also require prompt diagnosis and treatment if they are not to result in significant harm.

The diagnosis and treatment of cardiological problems can be complex and involve doctors from many specialities beyond cardiology.  As such, where errors have occurred, these can also be complex legal cases so having an experienced lawyer is critical.

If you believe there have been errors in the diagnosis and or the management of a cardiac disease with you or someone you know, please feel free to get in touch with us. You can mail us your query at mail@anthonygold.co.uk or give us a call on 020 7940 4060 and ask for a member of the Clinical Negligence team.