Your heart valves lie at the exit of each of your four heart chambers and maintain one-way blood flow through your heart. The four heart valves make sure that blood always flows freely in a forward direction and that there is no backward leakage.
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is elevated.
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs)
An Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a small device that’s placed in the chest or abdomen. Doctors use the device to help treat certain types of abnormal heartbeat rhythms which can be life threatening.
Ischaemic heart disease
Ischaemic (or ischemic) heart disease is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle. It is the most common cause of death in Australia and most western countries. Ischaemia means a reduced blood supply.
Palpitations
Palpitations is the term used to describe the sensation of an abnormal heartbeat, often described by patients as, forceful, rapid or irregular beating of the heart, a rapid fluttering sensation in the chest, flip flopping in the chest, or a pounding sensation in the chest or neck.
Pericarditis
Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, two thin layers of leathery tissue that surrounds the heart.
Screening for and Prevention of Heart disease
The best way to find out which heart disease risk factors you have, and detect early signs of heart disease, is through regular doctor visits, and appropriate screening tests.
Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) and Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac arrest, also known as sudden cardiac death (SCD), occurs when an abnormal and very rapid heart rhythm such as VT or VF prevents the heart from pumping normally to deliver blood to the brain and other vital organs.
Supraventricular tachycardia
SVT is a a name given to a group of abnormal heart rhythms, which cause an spontaneous, abnormal, fast, regular heartbeat, which arises electrically from the upper chambers of the heart.
Syncope
Syncope, commonly known as fainting, refers to a sudden loss of consciousness, followed by a rapid and complete recovery. A person with syncope recovers quickly, almost always without treatment.