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Piedmont Heart Institute

Our Mission

PHI brings more than 85 prominent cardiovascular physicians together with one of the premier cardiac centers in the region, the Fuqua Heart Center at Piedmont Hospital. PHI is comprised of physician practices, hospital services at each of the Piedmont hospitals, cardiovascular research and education, collaborative quality initiatives, Innovation Center and new program development.

Activity

  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What are the symptoms of left-sided heart failure?
    Left-sided heart failure is often called "backward" heart failure.  This refers to symptoms that are predominately respiratory in nature.  Patients with left-sided heart failure often have shortness of breath otherwise known as dyspnea.  The dyspnea they may suffer may be with mild or moderate exertion.  Often times, patients may be dyspneic...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    Can stagnant anoxia be prevented?
    Stagnant anoxia is defined as oxygen deficiency at a tissue level.  Essentially, delivery of oxygen to various organs and tissues of the body is decreased in this setting.  As related to congestive heart failure, this may result from less overall circulation of blood through the body.  This can be ass...  Full Post
  • William D. Knopf, MD
    William D. Knopf, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What are the alternatives to face-to-face fibromyalgia support groups?
    Support groups are now being offerred online. An example is heatlhy women
    and the fibromyalgia network as well as the national fibromyalgia association  Full Post
  • Charan Kantipudi
    Charan Kantipudi of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    If my heart occasionally skips a beat, do I have arrhythmia?
    Any heart rhythm irregularity is called arrhythmia. However, some of these are not dangerous. Some could be life threatening.

    Usually a skipped beat occurs due to a premature heart beat either from the upper or lower heart chamber. There is a time gap after a premature heart beat that gives you a...  Full Post
  • Charan Kantipudi
    Charan Kantipudi of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    Is there a cure for arrhythmia?
    Arrhythmias can be divided into slow rhythm and rapid heart beat rhythm disorders.

    The majority of rapid arrhythmias can be cured.
    1. Some rapid arrhythmias are due to an additional electrical pathway causing a reentrant rapid heart rate.
    2. Some are due to irritable cells in heart beating very fast.
    ...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    Do diuretic drugs relieve the symptoms of fluid overload?
    Diuretic drugs relieve symptoms of acute decompensated heart failure.  These may include dyspnea due to excess water within the lungs (pulmonary edema) and peripheral edema (excess fluid accumulation within the skin tissues).  These two are prime examples of how diuretics relieve the symptoms of fluid overload...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    Why are so many heart failure patients hospitalized?
    Over 1 million hospital discharges occur every year.  This results in approximately 29.6 billion dollars in costs derived from heart failure admissions.  About 50% of these admissions occur due to salt and water excess intake, and/or medication noncompliance.  Adherence to a low sodium diet and fluid...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    Besides healthcare expenses, what are other costs of heart failure?
    In the latest AHA reporting, total costs of heart failure surpass $29.6 billion.  Of this, 53% is accounted for by hospitalization of the heart failure patient for acute decompensated heart failure.  This is the majority of the cost borne by the health care system.  Other costs include nursing home...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    How much does heart failure cost in the United States?
    Health care costs related to heart failure are estimated at more than $39 billion per year. The bulk of this cost is actually related to hospitalization of patients with congestive heart failure. The overall number affected with heart failure is over 5.5 million patients within the United States...  Full Post
  • Jack E Dawson
    Jack E Dawson of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What are the types of angina?
    Angina may present during exertion, emotional upsets, at rest and in the night. It may occur shortly after lying down at bedtime or more ominously in the pre dawn hours of the morning. All of these episodes reflect angina that is associated with plaque buildup, except that occurring at rest. Variant...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What are natural treatments for congestive heart failure?
    Heart failure treatment should be approached by physicians and patients in an evidenced-based way.  Medications such as beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, aldosterone antagonists, digitalis glycosides, and diuretics have been found to be clinically useful in patients with heart failure.  There are a number of "natural" remedies for heart...  Full Post
  • Jack E Dawson
    Jack E Dawson of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What is atherosclerosis?
    Atherosclerosis is a technical term for plaque formation in the artery that can interfere with blood flow and cause damage in the organ supplied. After one or more risk factors causes damage to the wall of the inner lining of the artery, the repair process begins. This process is inflammation. The...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What is an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD)?
    An ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) is a small battery powered electrical impulse generator which is totally implantable.  This device has onboard software which endeavors to detect abnormal rhythms of the heart which are predominantly ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (...  Full Post
  • Nirav Y Raval, MD
    Nirav Y Raval, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    When should captopril be used?
    Captopril is an example of an angiotensin-converting inhibitor (ACEi).  This is a medication that has been shown in the early 1990s to be useful in patients with systolic heart failure.  Systolic heart failure refers to patients with low ejection fractions, or patient's that have abnormally low pumping...  Full Post
  • Scott Leibowitz, MD
    Scott Leibowitz, MD of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:
    What happens when I sleep?

    In the past, sleep was thought to be a state where we essentially hit the "pause" button until we wake up again and hit "play". Over the last 50+ years, we have come to understand sleep as a critical state where our body takes on a different physical state and our mind enters into different states

    ...  Full Post