Heart disease and surgery

The functions of the heart are of course complex. Electrical activity of the heart together with the circulation of blood in the major primary arteries is often at the centre of heart investigations. Symptoms may include:

• chest pain
• palpitations
• oedema (swelling) 
• tiredness
• light headedness

The interpretation of cardiac investigations is important in the correct assessment of patients presenting such symptoms, whether it be by electrocardiography (interpretation of electrical activity of the heart), exercise test, echocardiogram or Doppler test.

Treatments for angina (chest pains due to lack of oxygen in the blood), myocardial infraction (heart attack) and cardiac arrest have all been the subject of medico legal claims.

Assessment of conditions may be acute or chronic and it is important that a full investigation with the use of appropriate experts is undertaken.

Vascular surgery involves a closer look at the arterial and venous systems. Claims arise in a failure to check or carry out investigations for:

• aneurysms (blood filled dilation of a vessel)
• pulmonary emboli (blockage of the main artery or branches of the lung)
• deep vein thrombosis (the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein)
• injuries such as those to the common iliac artery (pelvis)
• treatment of varicose veins

Adequacy of investigations, whether by Doppler (the use of sound waves to evaluate blood flow), ultrasound or duplex imaging, can often arise.