From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cardiology
Heart diagram blood flow en.svg
Blood flow diagram of the human heart. Blue components indicate de-oxygenated blood pathways and red components indicate oxygenated blood pathways.
SystemCardiovascular
SubdivisionsInterventional, Nuclear
Significant diseasesHeart disease, Cardiovascular disease, Atherosclerosis, Cardiomyopathy, Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
Significant testsBlood tests, electrophysiology study, cardiac imaging, ECG, echocardiograms, stress test
SpecialistCardiologist
GlossaryGlossary of medicine
Cardiologist
Occupation
Names
  • Physician
  • Surgeon
Occupation type
Specialty
Activity sectors
Medicine, Surgery
Description
Education required
Fields of
employment
Hospitals, Clinics

Cardiology (from Greek καρδίᾱ kardiā, "heart" and -λογία -logia, "study") is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in this field of medicine are called cardiologists, a specialty of internal medicine. Pediatric cardiologists are pediatricians who specialize in cardiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or cardiac surgeons, a specialty of general surgery.

Specializations