The heart is one of the body’s vital organs. It acts as the body’s power supply, pumping blood and oxygen to every cell. If something affects your heart’s ability to pump blood to the body, it can cause serious health problems.

In the 1950s, SBH Health System became the first hospital in the country to offer open-heart surgery. Today, we’re still serving the Bronx community with the latest in technologies and treatments, coupled with compassionate care.

At SBH Health System, we have a team of board-certified general and specialized cardiologists available around the clock to diagnose and treat the full range of heart problems. We understand our patients’ diverse cultures and needs. And we offer the same high-quality care you’d find at any major medical center, delivered with a community feel. Our team always puts you first, not your diagnosis, and we show that focus through the kind of care we provide our patients each and every day.

Whether you’re struggling with shortness of breath or heart palpitations, or noticing an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia), we can help get your heart healthy again.

Our robust services cover everything from heart disease prevention to advanced therapies for myocardial infarctions (heart attacks). And our specialists collaborate with one another to provide a comprehensive treatment plan that’s personalized to you.

Cardiac imaging refers to tests that take pictures of the heart and its surrounding structures. Our cardiologists use the images to diagnose heart conditions. They also use the images to monitor existing heart conditions and determine how well treatments are working.

The cardiac imaging tests we offer include:

• Electrocardiograms, or EKG
  Electrocardiograms look for changes in the heart’s electrical impulses that might indicate a heart-related condition.
• Echocardiograms, or echo
  We offer both routine and transesophageal echocardiograms, which use ultrasound technology to examine the heart and look for problems.
• Stress tests
  Heart stress tests evaluate heart function and blood flow. Different types of stress tests include nuclear stress tests, Holter monitors and event recorders.

The providers at our cardiac catheterization lab are available 24/7 to diagnose and treat heart conditions like:

• Cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle)
• Congestive heart failure (chronic condition where the heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should)
• Heart defects
• Heart disease
• Problems with heart valves
• Pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs and heart)

We offer heart interventional procedures including:

• Balloon angioplasty (surgical widening of a blocked or narrow blood vessel)
• Cardiac catheterization (treatment for heart and blood vessel problems, such as clogged arteries or irregular heart rhythm)
• Stenting (surgically placed tubes used to hold open weak or narrowed blood vessels)
• Thrombectomy (surgical removal of blood clots from an artery or vein)

Heart failure is typically caused by conditions like narrowed arteries in the heart (coronary artery disease) or high blood pressure that can leave your heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump blood effectively. Not all conditions that lead to heart failure can be reversed, but we can treat your heart failure to improve your symptoms, help you live longer and improve your quality of life.

Our multidisciplinary cardiology team provides evaluation and follow-up for both systolic and diastolic heart failure

Arrhythmias occur when the flow of electrical impulses that coordinate the heart’s contractions change and cause fast or irregular heartbeats. The most common type of arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, occurs when the upper chambers of the heart beat irregularly and blood doesn’t flow as well as it should to the lower chambers of the heart. We can treat many of the symptoms associated with atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias, like heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, dizziness or fainting.

Your treatment options will typically depend on the severity of your arrhythmia, but may include implantable devices, like pacemakers, or surgical procedures, like catheter ablation, to correct the electrical pathway.

Our cardiothoracic surgeons collaborate with our cardiologists to treat cardiovascular and thoracic conditions. They use sophisticated, minimally invasive procedures to repair valves that didn’t form properly, aren’t working as well as they should or are diseased. Our cardiothoracic surgeons also treat cancers, including lung and esophageal.