Love Your Heart: A Cleveland Clinic Podcast

In honor of Heart Failure Awareness Week, Steven Nissen, MD, Chairman of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic talks with Randall Starling, MD, MPH, President of the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) and Jerry Estep, MD, Section Head of Heart Failure at Cleveland Clinic about what we need to know about heart failure – whether a patient or pr...

Steven Nissen, MD talks with Jerry Estep, MD, Section Head, Heart Failure and Transplantation and Edward Soltesz, MD, Surgical Director of the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure and Recovery about what a diagnosis of heart failure means, what medications help improve survival and quality of life, when a patient should seek a second opinion about advanced heart failure therapies such as left ventricu...

After a webchat on cardiovascular disease risk factors, Dr. Stanley Hazen discusses common questions about primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease such as when should someone go to a preventive cardiology clinic, tests that are ordered in preventive cardiology, when is calcium score used, what is TMAO and what to do when it is elevated, when stress testing is used and how much...

Steven Nissen, MD discusses with Christine Jellis, MD, PhD what patients need to know about imaging tests such as nuclear, echo, CT and MRI testing; risks involved such as radiation dosage, when tests need to be redone, what they need to know about the transesophageal echo.

After a webchat on Achalasia and Swallowing Disorders, thoracic surgeon Dr. Siva Raja and gastroenterologist Dr. Scott Gabbard review common concerns about treatment options and diagnostic testing to obtain the best outcomes; pain management; as well as what patients should know who have had prior treatments.

After a webchat on Pericarditis, with Dr. Allan Klein, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Pericardial Disease Center reviewed common questions that patients ask about medications, how patients are monitored during treatment, exercise, and what is on the horizon for new treatments.

Dr. Steven Nissen talks with experts: cardiologist Milind Desai, MD and cardiovascular surgeon, Nicholas Smedira, MD about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Learn about what HCM is, symptoms, how it’s diagnosed, what family members should know, what is involved in surgery and medical therapy, and when an implantable defibrillator is necessary.

Dr. Erik Van Iterson, Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic what patients should know about cardiac rehabilitation: Who can benefit? When should you start a cardiac rehabilitation program? How does cardiac rehab fit into your treatment plan? What should you do if you do not have a cardiac rehab program close by? How does the family benefit?

After a webchat on heart failure treatments, Dr. Maria Mountis, heart failure cardiologist and Dr. Edward Soltesz, Surgical Director of the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure and Recovery discussed topics that were addressed during the chat including heart failure medications, cardioMEMs monitoring, when patients are considered for advanced therapies, what patients should know about heart transplant...

Dr. Steven Nissen discusses pericardial disease with Dr. Allan Klein, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Pericardial Disease Center – including different types of pericardial disease (such as pericarditis and recurrent pericarditis), common symptoms, diagnostic testing, medications used to treat pericarditis and when surgery is used.

Dr. Steven Nissen talks to cardiologist Dr. Sagar Kalahasti, Director of the Marfan & Connective Tissue Clinic and surgeon Dr. Eric Roselli, Director of the Aorta Center about aorta disease: follow-up, typed of testing, when to have surgery and what patients should know about life-long care.

Dr. Luke Laffin, staff cardiologist in Preventive Cardiology and Clinical Specialist in Hypertension at Cleveland Clinic answers questions that patients often ask about taking high blood pressure medicines: types of medications, side effects, when to call the doctor, role of self-blood pressure monitoring (including how often), the best time to take blood pressure medications, and if there is a ch...

Cleveland Clinic heart surgeon Per Wierup, MD, PhD, explains how robots are used in heart surgery, what types of surgery robots can assist with and how patients are evaluated for robotic heart surgery. He also shares how hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (another of his specialties) is treated with heart surgery.