Washington, D.C. is home to 205 practicing cardiologists who have offices in 1 county and 20 zip codes, including zip codes 20010, 20037, 20307, 20017, 20016, 20007, 20422, 20060, 20420, 20032, 20002, 20006, 20001, 20024, 20020, 20522, 20042, 20009, 20008, and 20003.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Washington, D.C. has a population of 550,521, which gives it a specialist to resident ratio of 1 cardiologist for every 2,685 residents.

Description

Cardiology is the treatment of diseases of the heart and blood vessels. A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in treating heart conditions such as abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects, and disease of the heart valves. A cardiologist can inform your doctor about new drugs or tests that may be beneficial to you.

Some heart conditions can cause permanent damage to the heart muscle, and can be fatal. Methods that cardiologists use to study heart conditions include stress tests, a monitor to record your heart rate and rhythm, a biopsy, which studies a tiny piece of heart tissue, and an echocardiogram, which uses sound waves to show a picture of how your heart works.

Diseases / Illnesses Treated

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are blood clot, peripheral vascular disease, angioplasty, hypertension, heart attack, congestive heart failure, angina, atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathy, coronary heart disease, pericarditis, ventricular tachycardia, acute coronary syndrome, cardiac arrest, bigeminy, heart block, myxoma, cardiac arrhythmias, tricuspid valve disorders, and aortic valve disorders.

Procedures Performed

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including gastric bypass surgery, open heart surgery, valve replacement, valve repair, bypass surgery, carotid artery surgery, catheter ablation, cardiac surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, cardiac bypass surgery, cardiovascular surgery, laser angioplasty, valvuloplasty, balloon angioplasty, atherectomy, coronary artery bypass surgery, coronary artery bypass graft, coronary angioplasty, heart transplantation, and carotid surgery.

Tests Performed

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including  electrocardiogram (ecg or ekg), cardiac stress test, holter monitor, echocardiogram, blood test, sphygmomanometer, cardiac enzymes, ivus, electrophysiologic study, and coronary catheterization.