Phone Numbers
Directory assistance
(203) 688-4242
Patient information
(203) 688-4177
Adult emergency
(203) 688-2222
Children's emergency
(203) 688-3333
Admitting
(203) 688-2221
Children's admitting
(203) 688-3331
Psychiatric admitting
(203) 688-9907
Common conditions
Being told you have heart disease may be as confusing as it is upsetting. It often means different things to different people. Descriptions of some of the more common conditions follow.
Coronary artery disease
As we age, our once-elastic arteries may lose some of their ability
to expand, and fatty layers made up of fats, cholesterol and other materials
may built up along the arteries' walls restricting blood flow. This hardening
and narrowing process is called atherosclerosis, and when it affects
the coronary arteries, it is called coronary artery disease. Coronary
arteries are vulnerable to atherosclerosis because they are small, slightly
larger than an average strand of spaghetti. When a coronary artery narrows
more than 50 percent, it is considered serious enough for the person to
be diagnosed as having coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death
among Americans.
Symptoms of coronary artery disease may vary from chest pain or discomfort (angina) to a heart attack to sudden cardiac death.
• YNHH Health Library: Coronary artery disease
Angina pectoris
When the oxygen supply to the heart muscle is impeded, chest discomfort
or pain results. Angina, the medical term for this pain, may occur when
you exercise, experience a strong emotion or it may even
occur at rest. Angina that is not relieved after resting 15 minutes or
after taking up to three nitroglycerin tablets under the tongue five minutes
apart may be a sign of a heart attack.
• YNHH Health Library: Angina pectoris
Arrhythmias
Arrhythmias are irregularities in your heartbeat (pulse) caused by
disturbances in the electrical system controlling the heart. Arrhythmias
often cause no problems and may result from nothing more serious than
too much caffeine or not enough sleep. They can be serious when associated
with cardiovascular disease. Several types of heart disease, high blood
pressure, coronary artery disease and valve disease are associated with
atrial fibrillation, which occurs when the heart's two upper chambers
beat very rapidly. It can usually be well controlled with medications
such as digitalis or beta blockers. Electrical disturbances of the heart's
lower chambers, the ventricles, are more serious. Ventricular arrhythmias,
including ventricular tachycardia (when the ventricle beats rapidly) and
ventricular fibrillation (when the ventricle barely pumps at all) may
be life-threatening. Bradyarrhythmia, or slow heart rate, may be caused by aging, damage to the heart, certain medications or a heart block. A heart block may be caused by a scar in the tissues that conduct electrical impulses.
• YNHH Health Library: Arrhythmias
Congenital heart disease
The human heart forms between the eighth and tenth week of gestation.
Any congenital disease develops during this time. Valve defects and holes
in the inner separating walls of the heart are forms of congenital heart
disease. For example, an atrial septal defect is an opening in the wall
separating the two upper chambers of the heart, which causes blood to
flow abnormally, from the left to the right side of the heart. It is usually
repaired surgically. A ventricular septal defect occurs between the two
lower chambers of the heart. Although congenital heart disease has historically been
a pediatric problem, advances in diagnostic modalities, medical management
and catheter-based and surgical intervention have revealed the condition in adults to such a degree that it equals the number of pediatric patients
born with the most common congenital disease. Adults and adolescents with congenital heart disease are treated
through the
Adult Congenital Heart Program , a joint program of Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Yale School of Medicine.
• YNHH Health Library: Congenital heart disease
Congestive heart failure
(CHF)
A diagnosis of congestive heart failure is made when one experiences
symptoms caused by the heart's inability to pump blood forward on demand.
Blood begins to back up, and pressure within the heart rises. Symptoms
include shortness of breath, swelling, fatigue and decreased tolerance
for exercise. Heart muscle disease, a history of heart attacks, high blood
pressure, and cardiac valve problems are the major causes of CHF.
• YNHH Health Library: Congestive heart failure
Heart muscle disease
There are several kinds of heart muscle disease that enlarge heart
chambers and cause weakening of the heart. These include pericarditis, an
inflammation of the membrane that surrounds the heart; myocarditis, inflammation
of the heart muscle; and endocarditis, an infection of a heart valve or
the inner lining of the heart muscle. Cardiomyopathy is a general term
doctors often use to describe diseases of heart muscle.
• YNHH Health Library: Cardiomyopathy
High blood pressure
The force with which the heart pushes blood through the body is called
"blood pressure." If blood vessels are narrowed because of atherosclerosis
or other causes, the heart must pump harder than normal to circulate blood
resulting in high blood pressure or hypertension. Eventually if hypertension
is not well managed, the heart chambers may become enlarged and the heart
muscle may thicken. The heart needs more oxygen to function, and its efficiency
decreases. After many years of hypertension, heart failure may occur.
For more information about lowering high blood pressure, visit the National
Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
• YNHH Health Library: High blood pressure / Hypertension
Valvular heart disease
Diseases of the heart's four valves--the tricuspid and pulmonary on
the right side of the heart and the aortic and mitral valves on the left--occur
when the valve narrows or fails to close properly. When blood passes through
a narrowed or leaky valve, the resulting noise is a heart murmur.
• YNHH Health Library: Heart valve diseases
Next page: Heart attacks
Last revised: May 22, 2007 (dh)
