Cardiology and Heart Surgery

A cardiologist recommends medicines, lifestyle changes, and procedures to help you control high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other factors that put you at risk for a heart attack. They coordinate your care with other specialists if you have a medical condition such as diabetes, a congenital heart defect, or genetic concern that increases your heart disease risk. And they team with subspecialists when you require care that only a specially trained heart doctor or heart surgeon can provide.

Having a Duke cardiologist or heart surgeon manage your care gives you access to the latest technology and treatments. Our ongoing collaboration to set nationally accepted treatment guidelines ensures you benefit from heart care that is backed by research. 

High-Tech Heart Imaging
Imaging tests are the best way for you get the right treatment at the right time and the best possible outcome. Some of these imaging procedures, such as cardiac catheterization, require the careful insertion of a catheter to view the inside of the heart. Only large heart centers like Duke have the most up-to-date technology and credentialed, certified specialists who make treatment recommendations based on what they see. 

Treatment Advances and Clinical Trials
Treatment advances have made it possible for many people to live with the damage that results from a heart attack or another type of heart disease. As a major academic medical center, we offer access to clinical trials that range from new therapies not available elsewhere to new ways to manage lifestyle changes that reduce your heart disease risk or help you live comfortably. We also offer hope to people who are not considered candidates for treatment elsewhere.

Referrals to Heart Disease Subspecialists
As one of the best heart hospitals in the U.S., we have on our staff heart disease experts who have advanced training and experience in specific types of heart disease and work only with those patient populations.

Heart disease is an umbrella term for conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. It includes structural problems such as leaky heart valves, congenital heart conditions, and heart rhythm disorders like arrhythmia or AFib. If these conditions progress, they may lead to heart failure, and/or require advanced care and treatment. If you experience one or more of these conditions the following heart disease subspecialists may be involved in your care.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease Experts
Treat adults born with congenital heart defects that involve heart chambers, heart valves, or major blood vessels.

Genetic Heart Disease Experts
Diagnose and manage inherited heart disease and coordinate your care with genetic counselors if you carry a gene that may increase your risk for heart disease.

Interventional Cardiologists
Thread thin, flexible tubes called catheters through the arteries and veins that lead to your heart and brain. The procedure, called cardiac catheterization, allows the interventional cardiologists to view and repair narrowed or damaged arteries and heart structures.

Electrophysiologists
Perform catheter ablation, a minimally invasive procedure that uses energy to destroy tiny areas of the heart muscle that produce an arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm.

Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Cardiologists
Work with heart failure patients who need long-term care or advanced surgical intervention, such as a ventricular assist device or heart transplant. They staff our same-day heart failure clinic, which is designed to keep you out of the emergency room and avoid an overnight hospital stay.

Preventive Cardiologists and Rehabilitative Specialists
Our cardiac prevention and rehabilitation program is run by cardiologists who specialize in heart disease prevention and rehabilitation. They focus on lifestyle issues such as diet, exercise, and smoking.

Heart Surgeons
Repair or replace damaged heart valves or other parts of the heart, implant medical devices to control an irregular heartbeat, and repair or replace a damaged heart through transplant.

Other Heart Disease Experts
Duke heart experts also include cardiologists who dedicate their practice to a specific patient population with heart disease. They include experts who specialize in:

• The unique ways heart disease affects women
• The treatment of athletes with heart disease
• Children who are born with, develop, or are at risk for heart disease

Superior Surgical Outcomes
Our high surgical volume translates to superior outcomes. Studies show that major medical centers like ours, who treat high volumes of patients, achieve better results -- including fewer complications, faster recovery, and better long-term survival rates.

Among the Best and Largest Heart Transplant Programs
We are consistently recognized among the best and largest heart transplant programs in the country by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Recognition is based on the number of transplants we perform, our transplant rates, and post-transplant survival rates.

Life-Saving Initiatives for Heart Attack
Our efforts to improve cardiac care include an emergency response protocol for heart attack that ensures patients receive lifesaving treatment as quickly as possible. As a result, we’ve helped increase survival rates across the state of North Carolina for the most serious form of heart attack.

Expanded Access to Our Cardiologists
Heart Care Plus+ brings together Duke’s recognized specialty and sub-specialty services and doctors with WakeMed’s legacy for excellence in heart care through the WakeMed Heart Center and its network of heart clinics throughout Wake County. Heart Care Plus+ creates a county-wide distribution of exceptional providers, outpatient practices and facilities, and hospitals that will work together to seamlessly provide the highest quality care across the entire spectrum of heart and vascular disease.

Manage Your Care with Duke MyChart
View your test results, make appointments, request prescription refills, and message your doctor using any Web-enabled device through our secure online portal, Duke MyChart. Our technology also allows anyone on your care team to securely access your health information, making sure you always get care that's right for you and based on the latest evidence.