Learn about common heart problems, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation, heart attack and congenital heart disease, plus symptoms, causes and treatment options.
Heart failure
Heart failure is the inability of the heart to pump blood around the body to meet its needs. Heart failure can be due to problems with the heart muscle, valves, blood vessels or heart rhythm.
Symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath and fluid build-up, especially in the legs and abdomen.
Heart failure can range in severity from mild to life-threatening. The symptoms of heart failure can come on quickly or be present over a long period.
Most of the time we can manage heart failure with medications, either in hospital or at home. Sometimes, other treatments are needed, such as surgery or even heart transplant.
Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm where the heart beats irregularly, and often quite fast.
It happens because small electrical short circuits in the top chambers of the heart, take over from the normal electrical pacemaker (the sinus node), and cause the heart to beat in a rapid and disorganised way.
Atrial fibrillation can make people feel tired or short of breath, or cause palpitations, dizziness or chest pain. In some cases, it can lead to symptoms of heart failure.
Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
The coronary blood vessels wrap around the outside of the heart and deliver blood to the heart muscle, so that it can do its work. Coronary blood vessels can develop plaque which is made of cholesterol, calcium and fibrotic material, collectively termed atherosclerosis.
Plaque in the coronary arteries can rupture, leading to the rapid formation of a blood clot that can block the artery.
A sudden loss of blood supply to an area of heart muscle is called a myocardial infarction. The lay term for this is a 'heart attack'.
When this is recognised, we try to act quickly to restore blood flow. Usually this requires a procedure called an angiogram, and the insertion of a stent to keep the vessel open and restore blood flow.
Congenital Heart Disease
When the development of the heart is disrupted, the arrangement of major heart chambers and blood vessels can be abnormal and this is called congenital heart disease.
Congenital heart disease can range from quite mild lesions which don’t require intervention, to severe lesions that require one or several operations early in a baby’s life.
As adults, people with congenital heart disease can have problems relating to the original congenital abnormality, or late complications of the surgery that was performed as a baby.
Our clinic provides long term management to adults who were born with congenital heart disease.