A proof of concept of the Baptist Health Heart and Vascular Care line on baptisthealthal.com and every page it links to, built from our page drafts on the service line, facility and health library templates, with placeholder photos, doctors, locations and articles. It uses no built components and implies no build date. Medical copy is a draft for clinical review.
Every page has one owner. A page another team owns appears here because this line links to it, and changes to it go to that team.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, cares for the heart and blood vessels across central Alabama: testing and checkups, procedures and surgery, and rehabilitation, through cardiology practices and hospitals near where you live.
Template module · Written copy. The page name, then the hero description field, one paragraph of 40 to 380 characters that is the only part a visitor arriving from search is guaranteed to see. Ours, 231 characters. It names the care in the order a person meets it (testing, procedures and surgery, rehabilitation) and carries the co-brand on first mention. No fear cue and no superlative. The buttons are Find a Cardiologist and Find a Location.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Heart and vascular care looks after your heart's muscle, valves and rhythm, and the arteries and veins from your neck to your legs. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats these conditions across central Alabama, from checkups and testing to procedures, heart surgery and rehabilitation.
Many people first come to us with a racing or skipping heartbeat, chest pain, leg pain when they walk or swelling and bulging veins. Others come with a diagnosis such as heart failure, valve disease or high blood pressure.
Template module · Written block, the service line template's "What [line] Treats" (style guide §10.3, §11.7: up to five paragraphs, each under 80 words, no lists). Reshaped 2026-10-22 onto the frame (Kim: the pages did not follow their templates): the condition list moved to the Services, Conditions and Treatments tabs, which own it; the 911 list moved to the condition pages, which own When to Get Help Now, and one FAQ answer below; the hospitals and practices are the care teams module's and the locations module's. The opening sentence is the deck's; the second paragraph is ours, unchanged.
Most people can get heart and vascular care close to home. Four cardiology practices see you before, after and between procedures, with offices from Birmingham to Jasper, Cullman, Talladega, Demopolis, Alabaster, Clanton, Centreville and Anniston, and six Baptist Health hospitals provide the tests, procedures and surgery.
Template module · Image and text, photo left (style guide §11.8: a heading up to 50 characters, text up to 600). The line's strongest true claim for a reader who can choose: care close to home. Reshaped 2026-10-22: the practice and hospital lists that were here belong to the care teams module and to each hospital's page and location row, where every capability and its already stands (TAVR at Brookwood, Shelby's electrophysiology lab, Calhoun's cath labs and angioplasty).
Heart care often begins with a test, may include a procedure, and goes on for years with medicines, checkups and rehabilitation, with your cardiologist beside you throughout. Many pacemakers and defibrillators can be checked remotely, so you make fewer trips. Chaplains are available at our hospitals for any patient or family.
Template module · Image and text, photo right (style guide §11.8), the frame's "What Your Care Looks Like". The claim is continuity. The remote monitoring sentence rests on the August questionnaire. The chaplaincy sentence is the faith floor for this line, stated once. Reshaped 2026-10-22 to the 600-character limit: the Orlando Health resources sentence came off (the co-brand already says it).
When a heart valve problem is getting worse, our structural heart team can often repair it through a thin tube instead of open-heart surgery. The program's Valve Clinic, at 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, Medical Office Building B, Suite 210, Birmingham, is the place to start. Call (205) 877-2901.
Learn About the ProgramAt Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby hospitals, a pulmonary embolism response team decides together how to treat each clot in the lungs. If you have sudden shortness of breath or chest pain, call 911.
Learn About the TeamHeart South offers a free check of the blood flow in your legs and the valves in your leg veins. It is for people with leg pain, swelling or heaviness, or with risk factors such as smoking, diabetes or high blood pressure.
Request a ScreeningWhen a heart concern cannot wait for the next opening, ask for a same-day appointment. If it is an emergency, call 911.
Find a PracticeLibrary module · The feature accordion: rows the service line's marketing team chooses to feature, each a headline (35 characters), a short paragraph (350), a 5:4 photo and zero, one or two buttons. Four rows are ours, each from a source on disk and each something no other module on this page repeats. The two programs Kim ruled 2026-10-22 lead (wizard §0b: a program is reached from its own page and the playground rows); the Valve Clinic is the structural program's front desk (Q47) and the PERT teams are Q51. The free vascular screening is Heart South's, from its live screening page (it checks ankle and arm blood pressure and the leg veins). Same-day visits rest on the August questionnaire. Image briefs: a clinic reception with a nurse greeting a patient · a care team reviewing a lung scan together at a workstation · a technician holding an ultrasound probe to a calf, patient relaxed · a nurse and a patient at a desk with a calendar.
Prompts for the service line marketer, invented and never to publish as written: a heart-healthy cooking class at a Baptist Health hospital · a community blood pressure check day in Jasper or Talladega · a cardiac rehabilitation graduate's story · a Heart South office moving into the Baptist Health scheduling system, dated so it comes off.
Heart specialists who have cared for Alabama families since 1946, at ten offices from Birmingham to Jasper and Talladega.
Learn MoreTesting and treatment for varicose veins and other leg vein problems, in Hoover, with ultrasound done on site.
Learn MoreCardiologists in Alabaster, Clanton and Centreville, with cardiac imaging and an outpatient vascular institute.
Learn MoreCardiology care in Anniston, at the Physician Office Building at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital and on Christine Avenue.
Learn MoreTemplate module · Fills itself from the care team records, a card for each team relevant to this line. The card leads with the team, its location beneath (style guide §10.7 rule 5, Kim 2026-10-20, which reversed Daniel's 2026-10-07 card). The card wording is the hero description on each team's record, written once on that team's page and never repeated here. Every card takes the practice's own booking link (Q54): baptisthealthal.com/cva for Cardiovascular Associates and heartsouthpc.com for Heart South; the Vein Center and the Anniston practice take their own forms or numbers, written on their pages.
What renders on this line: Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates · Heart South Cardiovascular Group · Baptist Health Vein Center, Hoover · Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston.
Template module · Fills itself. The doctor finder, filtered to cardiology, with the practice or hospital each physician sees patients at shown on the row. Nothing is supplied. It shows employed physicians by default, with filters; physicians who are not employed stay in the global Find a Doctor (2026-10-02). No doctor is named anywhere in this page's copy.
Template module · Fills itself. A map and a list of every hospital and practice office on the line, each linking to its page: the six hospitals (Baptist Health Brookwood, Princeton, Shelby, Walker, Citizens and Calhoun) and the 16 office buildings in the URL map: 10 hold Cardiovascular Associates offices (one of them also holds the Vein Center), 3 hold Heart South offices, 2 hold the Anniston practice, and 1 holds the Valve Clinic. The hospital records exist. The practice office records are written once, on the four care team pages, and render here. Nothing is supplied on this page.
Heart and kidney health are linked; kidney doctors help manage fluid, blood pressure and medicines with your cardiologist.
Learn More About NephrologyDiabetes raises heart and vessel risk, and diabetes care protects your arteries over the years.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesStroke and heart rhythm problems are connected, so neurologists and cardiologists often care for the same patients.
Learn More About NeuroscienceUntreated sleep apnea strains the heart; treating it supports blood pressure and heart rhythm care.
Learn More About Sleep MedicineLung and heart conditions share symptoms like breathlessness, and lung specialists help sort out the cause.
Learn More About Pulmonary and Critical CareReaching a healthy weight lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, the risks that strain the heart.
Learn More About Weight Loss and Bariatric SurgeryTemplate module · The tabs module, as on every service line page: Services, Conditions and Treatments. ⛔ Services holds service lines only (style guide §10.7 rule 30, Kim 2026-10-22: "these services cards are only to feature service lines"): the lines heart and vascular care works alongside, each card saying how, from bh_heart_related_service_lines.md. Conditions and Treatments fill themselves from the health library; the linked lists below give the grouping (11 conditions, 26 treatments).
The services with no page of their own (this block listed them as Services cards until 2026-10-22). They are never Services cards. Each is a section of a library page today, or a library page owed when Baptist confirms it, and the writers keep them here: high blood pressure · cardiomyopathy · SVT and atrial flutter (a section of the arrhythmia page) · TriClip · ASD and PFO closure · balloon valvuloplasty · cardiac PET, cardiac CT angiography and cardiac MRI · TEE and intravascular ultrasound · EKG · carotid stenting and endarterectomy (sections of the carotid page) · EVAR and AAA screening (sections of the aneurysm page) · pulmonary embolism response (a section of the DVT page) · IVC filter · chronic venous insufficiency and May-Thurner syndrome · adult ECMO.
A team that repairs heart valves and closes the heart's appendage through a small tube, often instead of open-heart surgery.
Learn More About Structural Heart ProgramSpecialists at three Baptist Health hospitals who decide together how to treat a blood clot in the lungs.
Learn More About Pulmonary Embolism Response TeamCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseasePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationEach practice books its own appointments, so pick the one nearest you. Cardiovascular Associates takes requests at baptisthealthal.com/cva, and Heart South books at heartsouthpc.com. The Vein Center in Hoover and the Anniston practice take requests on their own pages.
Many people come to a cardiologist because their primary care doctor sent them, and you can also ask the practice about booking on your own. Your insurance plan may have its own rules, so check with them before your visit.
No. Heart failure means the heart is not pumping as strongly as it should. Doctors manage it every day, with medicine, daily habits you can handle at home, and a care team that follows you over time. Your doctor may also mention ejection fraction, which is one measure of how strongly your heart pumps. It is a number that guides your plan, and it is a place to start. If either term has frightened you, ask your cardiologist to walk you through yours. See heart failure.
Call 911. Paramedics begin care when they arrive and take you to the nearest emergency room that can treat you. Brookwood, Princeton, Shelby and Calhoun hospitals open blocked arteries with angioplasty and stents. If you arrive at an emergency room that does not, the emergency team arranges your transfer. See heart attack.
It can be a blood flow problem. Leg pain or cramping that starts when you walk and eases when you rest is a common sign of peripheral artery disease, which narrows the arteries in the legs. It is common, it is treatable, and it is worth mentioning to your doctor rather than putting up with. Cardiologists at Cardiovascular Associates and Heart South evaluate and treat it. See peripheral artery disease.
Bypass and valve surgery are done at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. Your cardiologist goes over your choices with you, tells you who will operate and where, and stays involved afterward. Rehabilitation starts about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you. See coronary artery bypass surgery and cardiac rehabilitation.
Template module · Written copy. Ours, a fill; the deck and the June draft have no questions block except the heart failure explainer, which becomes the third question. The block answers entry questions about the line as a whole. A question about one practice's offices or booking details belongs on that practice's page; the first question here names the four booking routes and points there. Two answers rest on facts a source does not state.
Template modules · Both fill themselves, from the content hub and the resource files, filtered to this line. The articles on this line are for living with a heart condition and for getting ready for a test or procedure. Nothing in them repeats an answer the questions block already gives. Calhoun's two heart articles are ported whole to the content hub (the URL map's 2 articles); Heart South's testing prep sheet is a resource, with the Heart South site live through about January 2027.
Template module · Fills itself from the hospital's location record: name, address, main phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph of the hospital. The heart services line is a field on the record. Address and phone come from the client's rename file (address) and 22 pages of the rmccares.org pull (the 256-235-5121 main line, used consistently). The hospital was Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center until 2026-10-01.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence, centered under the hero. On a hospital page that includes heart care, it is the emergency instruction, drawn from the hospital's own Heart and Vascular page ("Dial 911... don't try to drive to the hospital yourself").
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital is part of the private, not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health system that cares for people across central and northeast Alabama, and part of Orlando Health, a national not-for-profit health system. The hospital is in Anniston, and before October 2026 many people knew it as Regional Medical Center.
People come here for emergencies, surgery, cancer care, heart care, childbirth and the everyday care that keeps a family well. The hospital's Center for Women and Babies cares for mothers and newborns, and the hospital is a Baby-Friendly designated hospital, the first in Alabama to hold the designation. Chaplains are part of the care team for patients and families who want spiritual support.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the opening statement of the hospital. Facts: the rename (Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital from 2026-10-01, in Anniston at 400 E. 10th St.), the Baptist Health descriptor, the Center for Women and Babies, and Baby-Friendly designation (verified current 2026-09-11 against the designating body's registry, designated since December 2011). Chaplains are part of Baptist Health's care at every hospital.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this hospital's card, from the location record. Nothing is supplied beyond the heading.
Heart care here starts with finding out what is happening in your heart, and continues with the devices that protect your heart rhythm. After a heart event, the hospital's cardiac rehabilitation program takes place a short walk away at Baptist Health Medical Pavilion Anniston.
Doctors use a thin tube, guided through an artery, to look at the arteries that feed your heart and find any blockage. Two of the hospital's cardiac procedure laboratories are used for catheterization. Button: About Cardiac Catheterization → cardiac catheterization
When a catheterization finds a blocked artery, doctors can open it with a small balloon and hold it open with a stent. Button: About Angioplasty and Stents → coronary angioplasty and stents
A pacemaker keeps a slow heartbeat on pace, and an implantable defibrillator steps in when the heart beats dangerously fast. Doctors implant and check both here. Button: About Pacemakers → pacemaker implantation
A small monitor placed under the skin records your heart's rhythm for months, so your doctor can find the cause of fainting or a racing heartbeat. Button: About Loop Recorders → implantable cardiac loop recorder placement
An ultrasound of your heart that shows its size, how well it pumps and how its valves work. Button: About Echocardiograms → echocardiogram
These tests show how your heart behaves with effort and over a full day. The EKG records your heart's electrical signal in minutes; a Holter monitor, worn at home, records it for 24 hours. Button: About Stress Tests → exercise stress test
Library module · One introduction paragraph, then an accordion of items, each with a photograph, a headline of at most 35 characters, a short paragraph and a button. This is the heart care section of the shared page. It lists exactly the services Calhoun's row in the page manifest lists: cath labs; pacemakers, defibrillators and heart monitors; echocardiogram, stress testing, EKG and ambulatory monitoring. Facts are from the hospital's Cardiac Services page ("three advanced cardiac procedure laboratories, two used for catheterization"; "pacemakers, internal cardiac defibrillators, reveal devices"; "diagnostic studies, echocardiogram, computerized stress testing, electrocardiogram, 24-hour ambulatory monitoring").
⛔ No heart surgery in this section, in either direction. Cardiac rehabilitation is run by this hospital at the Baptist Health Medical Pavilion Anniston, so the introduction points to that page.
The emergency room at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital is open 24 hours a day, every day, with emergency physicians and nurses, and specialists on call when you need them.
The emergency room treats chest pain and suspected heart attacks, signs of a stroke, trouble breathing, serious injuries, severe pain and loss of consciousness. If you think you are having a heart attack or a stroke, or you cannot breathe, call 911 rather than driving yourself: paramedics begin treatment on the way and tell the emergency room you are coming.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph. For a hospital this is the emergency room. Facts: open 24 hours a day, seven days a week; staffed by emergency medicine physicians and specially trained nurses, paramedics and technicians; backed by an on-call list of specialty physicians drawn from a medical staff of more than 200 doctors (rmccares.org Emergency page). Trauma designation is held out of the copy, because Baptist's August answer says the system does not market trauma.
Cardiologists with Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston see patients in Anniston and work with the hospital's heart services. To book, use the practice's own scheduling link on its page.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record, one card linking to its page. The card wording lives on the care team record: Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston, whose two Anniston offices are 1700 Christine Ave. #100 and 901 Leighton Ave., Suite 702 (Q26; Capability Facts §3). The introduction sentence below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to cardiology at this hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles tagged to this hospital's lines, with View All. Nothing is supplied.
Yes. The emergency room is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
No. Call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and tell the emergency room you are coming.
Echocardiograms, stress tests, EKGs and 24-hour heart monitoring are available, along with cardiac catheterization. Your cardiologist orders the test and tells you where it takes place.
Each heart practice books its own appointments. Start with the practice's page, linked above.
Cardiac rehabilitation takes place at Baptist Health Medical Pavilion Anniston, a short walk from the hospital.
Call the hospital's main number, (256) 235-5121, for current visiting hours.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about this hospital. Heart questions in general belong on the service line page.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
The Services tab fills from this hospital's record (reshaped 2026-10-22: the services list left the written block, which the facility template keeps for About). The record holds: Emergency care, open every hour · Heart and vascular care · Surgical care · Cancer care · Maternity care and women's health · Neurology · Orthopedic care · Digestive care · Respiratory care · Radiology and imaging · Behavioral health · Urology · Rehabilitation.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record. The Services tab links up to Heart and Vascular Care first.
Template module · Fills itself from this hospital's record, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself, a band of logos from the awards record for this hospital. Nothing is supplied. No Calhoun award or accreditation has been verified for the renamed hospital apart from Baby-Friendly designation (registry check of 2026-09-11).
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Template module · Fills itself from the location record: building name, address, phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph of the building. Address: the live Tyler Center page gives 731 Leighton Avenue, Anniston, AL 36207 (the client's rename file spells the street "Leignton" in most rows and "Leighton" in one; the street is Leighton Avenue). Phone: the live Tyler Center page lists 256-231-8666.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence under the hero. People arrive at a rehabilitation building for appointments, and a heart event is never treated here, so the line sends emergencies where they belong.
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Medical Pavilion Anniston is part of Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health. It is a free-standing outpatient building on the Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital campus in Anniston, and many people in the area still know it as the Tyler Center.
Under one roof you will find outpatient rehabilitation, including physical, occupational and speech therapy, an aquatic therapy pool, imaging, a lab, a wound healing center, a sleep center, and occupational health and wellness. The cardiac rehabilitation program for Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital is here too.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the building's opening statement. Facts, from the live Tyler Center page: a free-standing center on the hospital's Anniston campus; rehabilitation, occupational health and wellness, wound care, balance disorders therapy and sleep disorder treatment; a large rehabilitation and fitness center; an indoor aquatic therapy pool; physical, occupational and speech therapists. The client's rename file names the services inside: Outpatient Rehabilitation, Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation, Outpatient Imaging, Outpatient Lab, Outpatient Wound Healing Center, Outpatient Sleep Center and Occupational Health and Wellness.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this building's card, from the location record. Nothing is supplied beyond the heading.
Cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised program that helps you get stronger after a heart event, heart surgery or a diagnosis of heart or lung disease, and teaches you the habits that protect your heart. Here it moves with you from the hospital bed to life at home.
Recovery starts before you leave the hospital. A cardiac rehabilitation nurse or exercise physiologist reviews your risk factors, what you want to learn and how active you are. Button: About Cardiac Rehabilitation → cardiac rehabilitation
You exercise under medical supervision to strengthen your heart and lungs, and you learn how to build a heart-healthy life at home.
The team keeps checking in as an outpatient, still under medical supervision, to see how you are doing and track your progress.
Library module · One introduction paragraph, then an accordion of three items, each with a photograph, a headline of at most 35 characters and a short paragraph. This is the heart care section of the page, and it carries the one service the manifest lists for this building: Calhoun's three-phase cardiac rehabilitation. The three phases are the program's own, from the Cardiac Rehabilitation page: an inpatient phase in which a cardiac rehabilitation nurse or exercise physiologist assesses risk factors, educational needs and activity level; a recovery phase of medically supervised exercise with teaching on a heart-healthy life; and an outpatient follow-up phase under medical supervision. The program is certified-nurse led ("trained and certified registered nurses in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation").
The session counts, the wait to start and the "no maintenance phase" facts in Baptist's answers (Q32 to Q35) belong to the Shelby and Princeton programs and are not carried to Calhoun's.
A physician supervises the program, and a nurse certified in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation is with you. Your heart rhythm is monitored by EKG the whole time you exercise, so you can build strength with a team watching.
Sessions include strength training and flexibility exercises. The building has a full-service gym with locker rooms, an aquatic therapy pool for swim sessions and massage therapy by appointment. Along the way you will learn about the lifestyle changes that help a full recovery.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph: what a patient finds in a session. Facts from the Cardiac Rehabilitation page: a physician-supervised program with constant EKG monitoring during exercise; strength training and flexibility exercises; a full-service gym with locker rooms; swim sessions in the aquatic therapy pool; massage therapy by appointment; educational resources throughout. Who it is for, from the same page: people with heart or lung disease and people who have recently had cardiac or vascular surgery.
Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston is the cardiology practice for Anniston. Ask your cardiologist whether cardiac rehabilitation is right for you, and the practice will help you start.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record. The card wording lives on the care team record: Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston. The introduction below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to this building. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles with View All. Nothing is supplied.
People who have heart or lung disease, and people who have recently had heart or vascular surgery. Your cardiologist can tell you whether the program fits your recovery.
Ask your cardiologist or your care team at the hospital. They can set up your first visit.
Yes, in a supervised program. Your heart rhythm is monitored by EKG during every exercise session, and a nurse certified in cardiac rehabilitation is with you.
Tell a staff member right away, and call 911 if it is an emergency. The pavilion has no emergency room, and the hospital's emergency room is a short distance away on the same campus.
The first phase begins at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital while you are still a patient there. The team there will tell you how the next phases begin.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about the building and the program.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record.
Template module · Fills itself, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself from the awards record for this building. Nothing is supplied. No accreditation for this building is on file.
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Template module · Fills itself from the hospital's location record: name, address, main phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph. The heart services line is a field on the record. The address is the same in the June draft and on the live page. The live page gives (833) 251-9895; the June draft, from the print flyer, gave (205) 877-1000.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence, centered under the hero: the emergency instruction for a hospital page that includes heart care.
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital is part of the private, not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health system that has cared for people across central Alabama for more than a century, and part of Orlando Health, a national not-for-profit health system. With 595 beds, Brookwood is the largest hospital in the Baptist Health system.
People come here for emergencies, surgery, heart care, cancer care, orthopedics, weight loss and childbirth. The Women's Medical Center cares for mothers and has a Level III neonatal intensive care unit for newborns who need it, and Brookwood is one of the state's largest providers of behavioral health care. Chaplains are part of the care team for patients and families who want spiritual support.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the opening statement of the hospital. Facts, from the June draft and the live page: a 595-bed acute care hospital, the largest in the Baptist Health system (the August answers confirmed 595, retiring 585); the Women's Medical Center with a Level III neonatal intensive care unit; one of the largest providers of behavioral health care in the state. Chaplains are part of Baptist Health's care at every hospital.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this hospital's card, from the location record. Nothing is supplied beyond the heading.
Brookwood is one of the Baptist Health hospitals where heart surgery is done, and it is where Baptist Health's transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) program is based. Around those are the labs and teams that diagnose and treat heart rhythm problems, blocked arteries, blood clots in the lung and diseases of the aorta and neck arteries.
Surgeons perform coronary artery bypass surgery to route blood around blocked arteries, and valve surgery to repair or replace a valve that has narrowed or leaks. Button: About Bypass Surgery → coronary artery bypass surgery Button: About Valve Surgery → aortic valve repair or replacement
The Heart Team treats valve disease and other structural problems of the heart through a catheter, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Baptist Health's TAVR program is based at Brookwood. Button: About TAVR → transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Electrophysiologists treat heart rhythm problems here, including catheter ablation and the implanting of pacemakers and defibrillators, through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates. Button: About Catheter Ablation → cardiac catheter ablation
When an artery to your heart is blocked, doctors open it with a balloon and place a stent, for planned procedures and for a heart attack. Baptist Health meets the national door-to-balloon benchmark for opening a blocked artery after a heart attack. Button: About Angioplasty → coronary angioplasty and stents
Endovascular aneurysm repair strengthens a weakened section of the aorta from inside the artery, with a graft placed through the groin. Button: About Aortic Aneurysm → aortic aneurysm
Open surgery on the carotid artery in the neck removes the buildup that can lead to a stroke. The service is offered at Brookwood. Button: About Carotid Artery Disease → carotid artery disease
When a blood clot reaches the lung, a team of specialists decides together how to treat it, whether by removing the clot through a catheter or with medicine. Button: About Blood Clots → deep vein thrombosis
An ultrasound of your heart that shows its size, how well it pumps and how its valves work. Button: About Echocardiograms → echocardiogram
Library module · One introduction paragraph, then an accordion of items, each with a photograph, a headline of at most 35 characters, a short paragraph and one or two buttons. This is the heart care section of the shared page. Brookwood is the most complete heart hospital in the system, so it carries eight items, one for each service in the manifest. Sources: the 2026-10-14 answers (Q28 EP labs at Brookwood and Princeton through Cardiovascular Associates; Q37 door-to-balloon; Q41 open carotid surgery at Brookwood, surgeon not named because not employed; Q44 bypass and valve surgery; Q48 EVAR at Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby; Q51 pulmonary embolism response teams at Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby; Q29 echocardiogram) and the 2026-08-04 answers (CABG at Brookwood and Princeton; TAVR consolidating to Brookwood only; structural heart procedures offered).
⛔ No surgery volume appears, no surgeon is named, no robotic or minimally invasive valve claim is made, and no chest pain center accreditation is claimed.
The emergency department at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital is open 24 hours a day, for needs from minor to major. Baptist Health also runs a free-standing emergency room at 7131 Cahaba Valley Rd. in Birmingham.
Brookwood is a Primary Stroke Center, certified by The Joint Commission, and stroke intervention is available here. For chest pain or signs of a stroke, call 911.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph, the emergency room. Facts: the emergency department is open 24 hours a day for needs from minor to major; Baptist Health also operates a free-standing emergency room at 7131 Cahaba Valley Rd., Birmingham, AL 35242 (the August answers corrected the Pelham address); Brookwood is a Primary Stroke Center accredited by The Joint Commission, with stroke intervention on site. Trauma is held out, because Baptist's August answer says the system does not market trauma.
Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates is the cardiology practice behind heart rhythm care at Brookwood. To book, use the practice's own scheduling link on its page.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record. The card wording lives on the care team record: Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates. The introduction below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to cardiology at this hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles tagged to this hospital's lines, with View All. Nothing is supplied.
Yes. It is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
No. Call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and tell the hospital you are coming.
Heart surgery (bypass and valve), structural heart procedures including TAVR, electrophysiology procedures, angioplasty and stents, aortic aneurysm repair, carotid surgery and echocardiograms are all available. A response team for blood clots in the lung is also here.
Each heart practice books its own appointments. Start with the practice's page, linked above.
It is at 7131 Cahaba Valley Rd. in Birmingham, and it is open around the clock.
Call the hospital's main number, (833) 251-9895, for current visiting hours.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about this hospital.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
The Services tab fills from this hospital's record (reshaped 2026-10-22: the services list left the written block, which the facility template keeps for About). The record holds: 24-hour emergency care · Heart and vascular care · Cancer care · Orthopedics and sports medicine · Weight loss and bariatrics · Women's care · Neurology and neurosurgery, including stroke intervention · Surgical services, including robotic-assisted surgery · Surgical spine program · Pulmonary and thoracic care · Digestive health · Urology · Radiology and diagnostic imaging · Rehabilitation therapy · Behavioral health · Wound care.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record. The Services tab links up to Heart and Vascular Care first.
Template module · Fills itself, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself, a band of logos from the awards record for this hospital. Nothing is supplied. The record holds: The Joint Commission accreditation; Primary Stroke Center (The Joint Commission); American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus, stroke; MBSAQIP Comprehensive Center, bariatric surgery; Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care (The Joint Commission). The June draft also named U.S. News & World Report high-performing ratings, including pacemaker implantation.
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Template module · Fills itself from the hospital's location record: name, address, main phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph. The heart services line is a field on the record. The address is the same in the June draft and on the live page. The live page gives (833) 251-9897; the June draft, from the print flyer, gave (205) 783-3000.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence, centered under the hero: the emergency instruction for a hospital page that includes heart care.
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Princeton Hospital has served its neighbors for more than a century. It is a 505-bed hospital with a full range of medical and surgical care, part of the private, not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, a national not-for-profit health system.
People come here for emergencies, heart care, cancer care, orthopedics, weight loss, neurology and the everyday care that keeps a family well. Princeton is recognized as a leader in aortic valve surgery, and it supports a clinical research program and a medical residency program. Pastoral care is part of the team for patients and families who want spiritual support.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the opening statement of the hospital. Facts, from the June draft and the live page: a 505-bed acute care hospital in Birmingham; a full scope of medical services; a clinical research program and a medical residency program; a recognized leader in aortic valve surgery. Chaplains are part of Baptist Health's care at every hospital, and the June draft lists pastoral care among Princeton's services.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this hospital's card, from the location record. The June draft adds one practical fact, free parking for patients and visitors, which the location record holds as an amenity. Nothing else is supplied.
Princeton is one of the Baptist Health hospitals where heart surgery is done. Around it are the labs and teams that treat heart rhythm problems and blocked arteries, help you recover after a heart event, and care for diseases of the aorta and neck arteries.
Surgeons perform coronary artery bypass surgery to route blood around blocked arteries, and valve surgery to repair or replace a valve that has narrowed or leaks. Button: About Bypass Surgery → coronary artery bypass surgery Button: About Valve Surgery → aortic valve repair or replacement
Electrophysiologists treat heart rhythm problems here, including catheter ablation and the implanting of pacemakers and defibrillators, through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates. Button: About Catheter Ablation → cardiac catheter ablation
When an artery to your heart is blocked, doctors open it with a balloon and place a stent, for planned procedures and for a heart attack. Baptist Health meets the national door-to-balloon benchmark for opening a blocked artery after a heart attack. Button: About Angioplasty → coronary angioplasty and stents
A supervised program of 36 sessions that rebuilds your strength after a heart event or heart surgery. It usually begins about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you, and the sessions take place at the hospital. Button: About Cardiac Rehabilitation → cardiac rehabilitation
Endovascular aneurysm repair strengthens a weakened section of the aorta from inside the artery, with a graft placed through the groin. Button: About Aortic Aneurysm → aortic aneurysm
Open surgery on the carotid artery in the neck removes the buildup that can lead to a stroke. The service is offered at Princeton. Button: About Carotid Artery Disease → carotid artery disease
When a blood clot reaches the lung, a team of specialists decides together how to treat it, whether by removing the clot through a catheter or with medicine. Button: About Blood Clots → deep vein thrombosis
An ultrasound of your heart that shows its size, how well it pumps and how its valves work. Button: About Echocardiograms → echocardiogram
Library module · One introduction paragraph, then an accordion of items, each with a photograph, a headline of at most 35 characters, a short paragraph and one or two buttons. This is the heart care section of the shared page, with one item for each service in the manifest. Sources: the 2026-10-14 answers (Q28 EP labs at Brookwood and Princeton through Cardiovascular Associates; Q31 to Q35 cardiac rehabilitation at Shelby and Princeton, 36 sessions, a wait of about a month after the surgeon and cardiology clear the patient, no home or remote option, no maintenance phase; Q37 door-to-balloon; Q41 open carotid surgery at Princeton, surgeon not named because not employed; Q44 bypass and valve surgery; Q48 EVAR; Q51 pulmonary embolism response teams; Q29 echocardiogram) and the 2026-08-04 answers (CABG at Brookwood and Princeton).
⛔ No surgery volume appears, no surgeon is named, no robotic or minimally invasive valve claim is made, and no chest pain center accreditation is claimed.
The emergency department at Baptist Health Princeton Hospital is ready for emergencies at any hour of the day or night, with a fast response for chest pain and for signs of a stroke.
Princeton is a Primary Stroke Center, certified by The Joint Commission. For chest pain or signs of a stroke, call 911.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph, the emergency room. Facts: emergency care for needs at any hour; fast response for chest pain or stroke symptoms; Primary Stroke Center certified by The Joint Commission. Trauma is held out, because Baptist's August answer says the system does not market trauma.
Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates has an office at Princeton and provides heart rhythm care at the hospital. To book, use the practice's own scheduling link on its page.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record. The card wording lives on the care team record: Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which has an office at Princeton (Q26). The introduction below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to cardiology at this hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles tagged to this hospital's lines, with View All. Nothing is supplied.
Yes. It is ready for emergencies at any hour, every day.
No. Call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and tell the hospital you are coming.
Heart surgery (bypass and valve), electrophysiology procedures, angioplasty and stents, cardiac rehabilitation, aortic aneurysm repair, carotid surgery and echocardiograms are all available. A response team for blood clots in the lung is also here.
Your surgeon and your cardiologist decide when you are ready. The program usually begins about a month after they clear you, and the sessions are at the hospital.
Yes. Parking is free for patients and visitors.
Call the hospital's main number, (833) 251-9897, for current visiting hours.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about this hospital.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
The Services tab fills from this hospital's record (reshaped 2026-10-22: the services list left the written block, which the facility template keeps for About). The record holds: Emergency care · Heart and vascular care · Cancer care · Orthopedics and rehabilitation · Weight loss and bariatrics · Neurosciences · Digestive health care · Behavioral health · Pulmonary and thoracic care · Respiratory services · Sleep center · Urology · Surgical services, including robotic-assisted surgery · Radiology and diagnostic imaging · Palliative care · Pastoral care · Primary and specialty care centers.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record. The Services tab links up to Heart and Vascular Care first.
Template module · Fills itself, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself, a band of logos from the awards record for this hospital. Nothing is supplied. The record holds: Primary Stroke Center (The Joint Commission); the AACVPR-certified cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation program; the MBSAQIP-accredited bariatrics center. The stroke-award line (Get With The Guidelines) waits on Baptist's confirmation of which award is current.
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Template module · Fills itself from the hospital's location record: name, address, main phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph. The heart services line is a field on the record. The address and the phone, (833) 251-9898, are the same in the June draft and on the live page.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence, centered under the hero: the emergency instruction for a hospital page that includes heart care.
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Shelby Hospital has served Alabaster and the communities around it since 1959, when it opened with 35 beds. Today it is a 252-bed hospital, part of the private, not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health system that has cared for people across central Alabama for more than a century, and part of Orlando Health, a national not-for-profit health system.
People come here for emergencies, heart care, orthopedics, surgery, diagnostic imaging and behavioral health. Chaplains are part of the care team for patients and families who want spiritual support.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the opening statement of the hospital. Facts, from the June draft and the live page: serving Alabaster and the surrounding communities since 1959 (the hospital opened with 35 beds); a 252-bed hospital today; areas of expertise that include behavioral health, diagnostic imaging, heart and vascular care, orthopedics and surgical services. Chaplains are part of Baptist Health's care at every hospital.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this hospital's card, from the location record. Nothing is supplied beyond the heading.
Shelby has the labs and teams that treat heart rhythm problems and blocked arteries, help you recover after a heart event, and care for diseases of the aorta and neck arteries, close to home in Alabaster.
Electrophysiologists from Heart South Cardiovascular Group treat heart rhythm problems in the hospital's EP lab. Button: About Catheter Ablation → cardiac catheter ablation
When an artery to your heart is blocked, doctors open it with a balloon and place a stent, for planned procedures and for a heart attack. Baptist Health meets the national door-to-balloon benchmark for opening a blocked artery after a heart attack. Button: About Angioplasty → coronary angioplasty and stents
A supervised program of 36 sessions that rebuilds your strength after a heart event or heart surgery. It usually begins about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you, and the sessions take place at the hospital. Button: About Cardiac Rehabilitation → cardiac rehabilitation
Endovascular aneurysm repair strengthens a weakened section of the aorta from inside the artery, with a graft placed through the groin. Button: About Aortic Aneurysm → aortic aneurysm
Open surgery on the carotid artery in the neck removes the buildup that can lead to a stroke. The service is offered at Shelby. Button: About Carotid Artery Disease → carotid artery disease
When a blood clot reaches the lung, a team of specialists decides together how to treat it, whether by removing the clot through a catheter or with medicine. Button: About Blood Clots → deep vein thrombosis
An ultrasound of your heart that shows its size, how well it pumps and how its valves work. Button: About Echocardiograms → echocardiogram
Library module · One introduction paragraph, then an accordion of items, each with a photograph, a headline of at most 35 characters, a short paragraph and one button. This is the heart care section of the shared page, with one item for each service in the manifest. Sources: the 2026-10-14 answers (Q28 the EP lab at Shelby through Heart South; Q31 to Q35 cardiac rehabilitation at Shelby and Princeton, 36 sessions, a wait of about a month after the surgeon and cardiology clear the patient, no home or remote option, no maintenance phase; Q37 door-to-balloon; Q41 open carotid surgery at Shelby, surgeon not named because not employed; Q48 EVAR at Shelby; Q51 pulmonary embolism response teams; Q29 echocardiogram) and the 2026-08-04 answers (PCI at Shelby; the 24/7 stroke team).
⛔ No surgery or ablation volume appears and no surgeon is named. The introduction names no heart surgery.
The emergency department at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital is ready for any emergency, big or small, at any hour of the day or night.
Shelby is a Primary Stroke Center, certified by The Joint Commission, with a dedicated stroke team on call around the clock. For chest pain or signs of a stroke, call 911.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph, the emergency room. Facts: the emergency room handles any emergency, big or small, at any hour; Primary Stroke Center certified by The Joint Commission; a 24/7 dedicated stroke team at Shelby (the August answers). Trauma is held out, because Baptist's August answer says the system does not market trauma.
Heart South Cardiovascular Group has an office in Alabaster and provides heart rhythm care at Shelby. To book, use the practice's own scheduling link on its page.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record. The card wording lives on the care team record: Heart South Cardiovascular Group, whose offices are Alabaster, Clanton and Centreville (Q26) and which runs the EP lab at Shelby (Q28). The introduction below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to cardiology at this hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles tagged to this hospital's lines, with View All. Nothing is supplied.
Yes. It is ready for any emergency, at any hour, every day.
No. Call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and tell the hospital you are coming.
Electrophysiology procedures, angioplasty and stents, cardiac rehabilitation, aortic aneurysm repair, carotid surgery and echocardiograms are all available. A response team for blood clots in the lung is also here.
Heart surgery is done at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. Your cardiologist will arrange it.
Your surgeon and your cardiologist decide when you are ready. The program usually begins about a month after they clear you, and the sessions are at the hospital.
Call the hospital's main number, (833) 251-9898, for current visiting hours.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about this hospital.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
The Services tab fills from this hospital's record (reshaped 2026-10-22: the services list left the written block, which the facility template keeps for About). The record holds: 24-hour emergency care · Heart and vascular care · Orthopedics and sports medicine · Neurology and neurosurgery · Surgical services, including robotic-assisted surgery · Surgical spine program · Behavioral health · Pulmonary and thoracic care · Radiology and diagnostic imaging · Rehabilitation therapy · Sleep Disorder Center · Weight loss and bariatrics · Urology · Women's health diagnostic services · Wound care · Endoscopy.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record. The Services tab links up to Heart and Vascular Care first.
Template module · Fills itself, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself, a band of logos from the awards record for this hospital. Nothing is supplied. The record holds: The Joint Commission accreditation; Primary Stroke Center (The Joint Commission); American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus, stroke. The June draft also names a U.S. News & World Report high-performing rating in heart attack care and an American College of Cardiology cath lab PCI accreditation; both wait on Baptist's confirmation that they are current.
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Template module · Fills itself from the hospital's location record: name, address, main phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph. The heart services line is a field on the record. The address and the phone, (833) 251-9899, are the same in the June draft and on the live page. The June draft notes a print number of (205) 387-4000 for Walker Women's and a possibility that the (833) line is scheduling and nurse routing.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence, centered under the hero: the emergency instruction for a hospital page that includes heart care.
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Walker Hospital has served Jasper and the surrounding communities for more than a century. It is a 267-bed medical and surgical hospital accredited by The Joint Commission, part of the private, not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, a national not-for-profit health system.
People come here for emergencies, childbirth, orthopedics, spine care, surgery, diagnostic imaging, heart testing and behavioral health. Chaplains are part of the care team for patients and families who want spiritual support.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the opening statement of the hospital. Facts, from the June draft and the live page: serving Jasper and the surrounding communities for more than a century; a 267-bed medical and surgical hospital accredited by The Joint Commission; areas of expertise that include behavioral health, diagnostic imaging, obstetrics, orthopedics, spine care and surgical services. The flyer's tagline, "Connect to health," is not used as a heading. Chaplains are part of Baptist Health's care at every hospital.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this hospital's card, from the location record. Nothing is supplied beyond the heading.
Walker gives you heart testing close to home in Jasper. If a test shows you need a procedure, your cardiologist will arrange it at another Baptist Health hospital.
Doctors guide a thin tube through an artery to look at the arteries that feed your heart and find any blockage. The lab at Walker is for diagnosis. Button: About Cardiac Catheterization → cardiac catheterization
An ultrasound of your heart that shows its size, how well it pumps and how its valves work. Button: About Echocardiograms → echocardiogram
Library module · One introduction paragraph, then an accordion of two items, each with a photograph, a headline of at most 35 characters, a short paragraph and one button. This is the heart care section of the shared page, and it lists exactly the two services the manifest names for Walker: the diagnostic cath lab (Q36, diagnostic only today) and the echocardiogram (Q29, Walker is an echo location). Cardiac catheterization is described as a diagnostic test; the procedures that follow it, such as opening an artery, are stated as happening at other Baptist Health hospitals, where the October and August answers place PCI (Brookwood, Princeton, Shelby).
The emergency department at Baptist Health Walker Hospital is ready for any emergency, big or small, at any hour of the day or night.
For a stroke, the hospital provides advanced stroke treatment, and a telestroke connection puts a stroke specialist in touch with your care team. For chest pain or signs of a stroke, call 911.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph, the emergency room. Facts: the emergency room handles any emergency, big or small, at any hour; advanced stroke treatment, with telestroke through Access TeleCare covering Walker (the August answers). Trauma is held out, because Baptist's August answer says the system does not market trauma.
Walker Women's Care offers a full range of gynecology services and a childbirth experience built around your family. You deliver in a private labor and delivery suite, hold your baby skin to skin at delivery and keep your baby in your room to bond. After the birth you stay in one of 16 private postpartum rooms, and a certified lactation consultant on site helps with breastfeeding.
Library module, used a third time · Written copy beside a photograph. Walker Women's Care is a large part of what this hospital does, and the June draft carries it in detail. Facts: a full range of gynecology services; private labor and delivery suites; skin-to-skin contact at delivery; rooming-in; 16 private postpartum rooms; an on-site certified lactation consultant. The nursery level differs between the June draft (Level I Well Baby Nursery) and the live page (Level II Special Care Nursery), so no level is printed.
Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates has an office in Jasper. To book, use the practice's own scheduling link on its page.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record. The card wording lives on the care team record: Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which has an office in Jasper (Q26). The introduction below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to cardiology at this hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles tagged to this hospital's lines, with View All. Nothing is supplied.
Yes. It is ready for any emergency, at any hour, every day.
No. Call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and tell the hospital you are coming.
A diagnostic cath lab and echocardiograms. Both help your doctor see what is happening in your heart.
Your cardiologist will arrange it at a Baptist Health hospital that performs it, such as Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, Baptist Health Princeton Hospital or Baptist Health Shelby Hospital.
Each heart practice books its own appointments. Start with the practice's page, linked above.
Call the hospital's main number, (833) 251-9899, for current visiting hours.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about this hospital.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
The Services tab fills from this hospital's record (reshaped 2026-10-22: the services list left the written block, which the facility template keeps for About). The record holds: 24-hour emergency care · Heart testing and cardiac catheterization for diagnosis · Childbirth services and women's health · Neurological services, including advanced stroke treatment · Orthopedics and sports medicine · Surgical spine program · Surgical services, including robotic-assisted surgery · Behavioral health · Pulmonary and thoracic care · Radiology and diagnostic imaging · Rehabilitation therapy · Outpatient infusion therapy · Urology · Weight loss and bariatrics.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record. The Services tab links up to Heart and Vascular Care first.
Template module · Fills itself, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself, a band of logos from the awards record for this hospital. Nothing is supplied. The record holds: The Joint Commission accreditation as a medical and surgical hospital, and Advanced Stroke Treatment. The June draft's employer-recognition line waits on the build team.
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Template module · Fills itself from the hospital's location record: name, address, main phone, Click for Directions and Click to Call, over a photograph. The heart services line is a field on the record. The address and the phone, (833) 251-9896, are the same in the June draft and on the live page.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Template module · One sentence, centered under the hero: the emergency instruction for a hospital page that includes heart care.
Template module · Fills itself from the headings below, one icon each. Nothing is supplied.
Baptist Health Citizens Hospital has served Talladega and the surrounding region for more than a century. It is a 122-bed hospital accredited by The Joint Commission, part of the private, not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, a national not-for-profit health system.
People come here for emergencies, diagnostic testing and imaging, sleep care, rehabilitation and the everyday care that keeps a family well. Chaplains are part of the care team for patients and families who want spiritual support.
Library module · Written copy beside a photograph, the opening statement of the hospital. Facts, from the June draft and the live page: serving Talladega and the surrounding region for more than a century; a 122-bed hospital accredited by The Joint Commission. Chaplains are part of Baptist Health's care at every hospital.
Template module · Fills itself: the map, with this hospital's card, from the location record. Nothing is supplied beyond the heading.
The emergency department at Baptist Health Citizens Hospital is ready for any emergency, big or small, at any hour of the day or night, with a quick response for chest pain and stroke symptoms.
A telestroke connection puts a stroke specialist in touch with your care team. For chest pain or signs of a stroke, call 911.
Library module, used a second time · Written copy beside a photograph, the emergency room. Facts: the emergency room handles any emergency, big or small, at any hour, with a quick response for chest pain or stroke symptoms; telestroke through Access TeleCare covers Citizens (the August answers). Trauma is held out, because Baptist's August answer says the system does not market trauma.
Baptist Health Citizens Hospital is home to a Sleep Disorder Center accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. If you snore, wake tired or stop breathing in your sleep, a sleep study here can show what is happening.
Library module, used a third time · Written copy beside a photograph. The Sleep Disorder Center is the one named program in the June draft, and its accreditation is a verifiable fact: accredited by and a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Citizens gives you heart testing close to home. An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of your heart that shows its size, how well it pumps and how its valves work. Your cardiologist reads the pictures and explains what they mean for you.
If your care needs more than testing, your cardiologist will arrange it at another Baptist Health hospital.
Library module, used a fourth time · Written copy beside a photograph. This is the heart care section of the shared page. It lists exactly the one service the manifest names for Citizens: the echocardiogram (Q29, Citizens is an echo location). The June draft's "diagnostic cardiology" is the same service stated generally. Nothing else is claimed: no cath lab, no procedure and no cardiac rehabilitation are on file for Citizens. A reader who needs more is pointed to the hospitals that do it.
Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates has an office in Talladega. To book, use the practice's own scheduling link on its page.
Library module, from the service line template · Fills itself from the care team record. The card wording lives on the care team record: Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which has an office in Talladega where echocardiograms are also done (Q26, Q29). The introduction below is the only written copy.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Library module · Fills itself: the doctor finder, filtered to cardiology at this hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself: three articles tagged to this hospital's lines, with View All. Nothing is supplied.
Yes. It is ready for any emergency, at any hour, every day.
No. Call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and tell the hospital you are coming.
Echocardiograms. If you need more than testing, your cardiologist will arrange it at another Baptist Health hospital.
Heart surgery is done at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. Your cardiologist will tell you which hospital fits your care.
Call the hospital's main number, (833) 251-9896, for current visiting hours.
Template module · Written copy, practical questions about this hospital.
Fills itself from this hospital's own records: every service line it offers.
The Services tab fills from this hospital's record (reshaped 2026-10-22: the services list left the written block, which the facility template keeps for About). The record holds: 24-hour emergency care · Diagnostic cardiology · General radiology and diagnostic imaging · Women's health diagnostic services and imaging · Endoscopy · Outpatient infusion therapy · Rehabilitation therapy · Respiratory services · Sleep disorders medicine · Concussion care · Teleneurology services.
Template module · Fills itself, three tabs of cards with Learn More links. Nothing is written on this page: the card wording lives on each record. The Services tab links up to Heart and Vascular Care first.
Template module · Fills itself, up to four downloads. No resource has been supplied, so the module renders nothing until one is.
Template module · Fills itself, a band of logos from the awards record for this hospital. Nothing is supplied. The record holds: The Joint Commission accreditation, and the Sleep Disorder Center's accreditation by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Template module · The same three cards on every page, Find a Doctor, MyChart and Virtual Visit. Nothing is supplied.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
The heart group of Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health. Cardiologists and heart specialists who have cared for Alabama families since 1946, at ten offices from Birmingham to Jasper, Cullman, Talladega and Demopolis.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field; 218 characters. The buttons are Request an Appointment, linking to the practice's own request form at baptisthealthal.com/cva, and Find a Location. The booking source is the live practice page: the form creates a request, and a representative contacts the patient within two business days.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Cardiovascular Associates is the heart group of Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, caring for Alabama families since 1946. Cardiologists, heart rhythm and interventional specialists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants see you at ten offices across the Birmingham area and out to Jasper, Cullman, Talladega, Sylacauga and Demopolis.
The practice covers general and preventive cardiology, heart rhythm care, interventional and structural heart care, vascular disease and heart disease in women. For heart valve disease, the Baptist Health Valve Clinic in Birmingham brings your care together in one place: call (205) 877-2901.
Template module · Written copy under Who we are, then a short section on the Valve Clinic (the URL map places it here and on the heart valve disease page), then THE FEATURES. The conditions and tests are not listed: the treatments and conditions modules render them. The eight service areas in the second paragraph are the ones the live practice page names. The features are the cards below; the offices, the doctors and the tests belong to their own modules and are not repeated in them.
To check · Who we are, second paragraph:. Valve Clinic:. Card 1:. Card 2:. Card 3:.
Heart disease does not always look the same in women. The practice has a service built around it, so symptoms like unusual tiredness, shortness of breath or nausea get a cardiologist's attention.
If you have a pacemaker or defibrillator, the heart lab at the main office can check many devices remotely, so you make fewer trips.
When a heart concern cannot wait for the next opening, ask for a same-day appointment. In an emergency, call 911.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to this practice: the physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants whose profiles name Cardiovascular Associates. Nothing is supplied. No doctor is named in this page's copy.
Template module · Fills itself from the practice's location records, one row for each office, each linking to the office building's facility page once the master mints it. The records do not exist yet, so their content is owed and is written here once, on the records (Q26; the URL map's office buildings tab). The practice's main number is the one on the live page; the office numbers are the live physician-finder location records (read 2026-10-22). Hours are not on any source. Two buildings (Cullman and Demopolis) are held until ownership is confirmed, because the address may belong to another hospital's campus; they stay in the table as offices.
| Record | Address | Phone | Hours | Heart care here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Birmingham (Colonnade) | 3980 Colonnade Parkway, Birmingham, AL 35243 | (205) 510-5000 | Main office · echocardiograms · heart lab for remote device checks | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Hoover (Preserve Parkway) | 5295 Preserve Parkway, Suite 260, Hoover, AL 35244 | (205) 510-5000 | Cardiology visits. The Baptist Health Vein Center, Hoover is in Suite 270 of the same building | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Hoover (Meadowview) | 10 Meadowview Drive, Hoover, AL 35242 | (205) 510-5000 | Cardiology visits | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Vestavia | 200 Montgomery Highway, Suite 225, Vestavia, AL 35216 | (205) 510-5000 | Cardiology visits | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Sylacauga | 209 West Spring Street, Suite 104, Sylacauga, AL 35150 | (256) 245-5833 | Cardiology visits | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Talladega | 803 North Street East, Talladega, AL 35160 | (205) 510-5000 | Cardiology visits · echocardiograms | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Cullman | 1948 Alabama Highway 157, Professional Office Building I, Suite 230, Cullman, AL 35058 | (256) 962-5380 | Cardiology visits | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Demopolis | 105 US Highway 80, Demopolis, AL 36732 | (334) 287-2842 | Cardiology visits | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Princeton | 833 Princeton Avenue, Professional Office Building III, Suite 200B, Birmingham, AL 35211 | (205) 786-2776 | Cardiology visits | |
| Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Jasper | 3400 Highway 78 East, Medical Arts Tower, Suite 215, Jasper, AL 35501 | (205) 221-9494 | Cardiology visits · nuclear stress testing | |
| Baptist Health Valve Clinic | 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, Medical Office Building B, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35209 | (205) 877-2901 | Heart valve disease clinic (Q47) |
Cardiovascular Associates is a heart practice: its cardiologists deliver heart and vascular care across Alabama.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareTemplate modules · All fill themselves, filtered to this practice. Services holds service lines only (§10.7 rule 30), from bh_heart_related_service_lines.md; Conditions and Treatments fill themselves. Nothing is supplied.
Coronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseasePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Use the Request an Appointment form at baptisthealthal.com/cva, or call (205) 510-5000. The form sends a request, and a representative contacts you within two business days to confirm a time. If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.
Many patients come on a primary care doctor's referral, and you can ask the office about booking on your own. Your insurance plan may have its own requirements, so check them before the visit.
Echocardiograms are done at the Colonnade office in Birmingham and the Talladega office. Cardiac CT and nuclear stress testing are available at the main office, with nuclear testing also at Jasper. Ask when you book, so your test is scheduled at the right office.
Visits, follow-up care and device checks happen at the office. Procedures such as ablation, pacemaker and defibrillator placement and angioplasty and stents are done at a Baptist Health hospital, and the team tells you which one and what to expect. See cardiac catheter ablation, pacemaker implantation and coronary angioplasty and stents.
It can. Women often have chest pain during a heart attack, and are also more likely than men to have shortness of breath, unusual tiredness, nausea or pain in the back or jaw. If you notice these signs, call 911, and bring them up at your visit even when they come and go. See heart attack.
Template module · Written copy. The reader is a patient or a family member deciding whether to book, with the practical questions first. The first answer is the live page's own booking instruction. The procedure-versus-office answer rests on Q28 (follow-up and device clinics run in the offices; procedures are at the hospital).
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. No award or accreditation is confirmed for this practice, so the awards band stays empty.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Request an appointment and the practice will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentThe vein center of Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health. Ultrasound testing and treatment for varicose veins, swollen legs and other vein problems, in Hoover.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field; 160 characters. The buttons are Request an Appointment, linking to the center's own request form on its live page (the form creates a request, and a representative contacts the patient within two business days), and Call (205) 949-9289.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover cares for legs that are swollen, aching or marked by veins that bulge or discolor. John Eagan, MD, and Kathleen Sentell, PA, lead the care with two ultrasound technologists: they test with ultrasound, explain what it shows, and treat with venous ablation, sclerotherapy and other vein procedures.
When the valves inside your veins do not close properly, blood pools in the legs. Some vein problems are cosmetic; others can damage the skin, cause ulcers or lead to dangerous blood clots, so a swollen or painful leg is worth having checked.
Template module · Written copy under Who we are, then THE FEATURES. The vein explanation is the live page's own: vein disease occurs when the valves in the veins do not close properly, and some vein problems are cosmetic while others can cause tissue damage, skin ulcers or dangerous blood clots. The symptom list is the live page's. The procedures (venous ablation, venous flow studies, sclerotherapy, the full range of vein procedures) are the Q59 answer. The conditions and treatments are not listed in full: the library pages and the treatments module carry them. The names of the two clinicians appear once, here, because the URL map names them for this page; the doctors module renders their profiles.
To check · Who we are, first paragraph:. Who we are, second paragraph:. Card 1:. Card 2:. Card 3:.
The center's own ultrasound technologists check how blood moves through your leg veins, so the test happens where your treatment plan is made.
Vein treatments here are minimally invasive, meant to reduce pain and speed recovery. The clinician explains your options and chooses with you.
If your leg symptoms point to a heart or artery problem, Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates has an office in the same building.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to this center: the physician and physician assistant whose profiles name the Vein Center. Nothing is supplied.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's location record, a single office, linking to the building's facility page once the master mints it. The record does not exist yet, so its content is owed and is written here once (the live Vein Center page; the URL map). The live page lists no hours.
| Record | Address | Phone | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baptist Health Vein Center, Hoover | 5295 Preserve Parkway, Suite 270, Hoover, AL 35244 | (205) 949-9289 |
The Vein Center treats varicose veins and other vein conditions, part of heart and vascular care.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareTemplate modules · All fill themselves, filtered to this center. The treatments the library holds for it are varicose veins, endovenous ablation, sclerotherapy for varicose veins, Doppler ultrasound and deep vein thrombosis. Nothing is supplied.
Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter...
Learn More About Endovenous ablationSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the...
Learn More About Sclerotherapy for varicose veinsPhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of...
Learn More About Phlebectomy[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Sometimes. Some vein problems change how the leg looks and nothing more. Others can cause swelling, pain, skin changes, ulcers or blood clots. An ultrasound shows how blood is moving through the veins, and that tells you which kind you have. See varicose veins.
The team asks about your symptoms and examines your legs. If you need one, you have a vein ultrasound, which is painless and shows how blood moves through your veins. The team tells you what the test found and what, if anything, to do about it.
The center offers the full range of vein procedures, including venous ablation, which closes a damaged vein from the inside through a small puncture, and sclerotherapy, an injection that closes smaller veins. See endovenous ablation and sclerotherapy.
Call 911 for sudden shortness of breath or chest pain, especially with a swollen leg. Call your doctor the same day if one leg becomes swollen, painful, warm or red, because these can be signs of a blood clot. See deep vein thrombosis.
Use the request form on this page, or call (205) 949-9289. The form sends a request, and a representative contacts you within two business days to confirm a time.
Template module · Written copy. The reader is a person with a symptom they have put off, often after being told it is cosmetic. The first answer takes the "just cosmetic" worry; the second says what the visit holds; the fourth gives the 911 signs for a clot. The booking answer is the live page's own instruction.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. No award or accreditation is confirmed for this center, so the awards band stays empty.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Request an appointment and the practice will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentA heart and vascular practice that has joined Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health. Cardiologists and advanced practice providers at three offices in Alabaster, Clanton and Centreville, with cardiac imaging and a vascular institute.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field; 234 characters. The buttons are Request an Appointment, linking to the practice's own booking page (the live site books new patients and follow-ups online), and Find a Location. The page keeps the practice's name through the transition (Q30).
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Heart South Cardiovascular Group has cared for heart and vascular patients in central Alabama with a focus on prevention and has joined Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health. It keeps its name, offices and website, heartsouthpc.com, while the move onto baptisthealthal.com is finished.
The practice treats coronary artery disease, disease of the aorta, heart rhythm problems, heart valve disorders, congenital heart defects, heart failure and high blood pressure, and disease of the arteries and veins. Visits and testing are at its three offices, and procedures that need a hospital are done at a Baptist Health hospital.
Template module · Written copy under Who we are, then a section on the Heart South Vascular Institute (the URL map places it here, as its own outpatient lab in the Alabaster office building, same physicians), then THE FEATURES. The service areas in Who we are are the live site's list; the procedures are not repeated, since the treatments module renders them. The Institute section draws its facts from the live Institute and Vein Center pages and the screening page: the outpatient lab at 1022 1st Street North, Alabaster; arterial Doppler and blood pressure testing in the office; an arteriogram for a definitive answer; treatment that removes plaque or places a stent; same-day discharge; the vein center's duplex ultrasound, radiofrequency ablation, phlebectomy, sclerotherapy and acute DVT treatment; and the free screening, which checks ankle-to-arm blood pressure and the leg veins by ultrasound. Neither "Institute" nor the screening is a Baptist Health program, and no claim of outcome is made.
To check · Who we are, first paragraph:. Institute section:. Screening paragraph:. Card 1:. Card 2:. Card 3:. Card 4:.
Heart South has its own cardiac imaging, with echocardiograms and stress testing at its offices and heart scans when your doctor needs a closer look.
Heart South physicians perform heart rhythm procedures in the electrophysiology lab at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital, near where you live.
If you take Coumadin, the practice's own clinic checks your blood and adjusts your dose, so you do not have to do it alone.
Most heart catheterizations are done through the artery in the wrist, which usually means an easier recovery than the groin.
The Heart South Vascular Institute is the practice's outpatient lab for arteries and veins, at 1022 1st Street North in Alabaster, beside Baptist Health Shelby Hospital. It treats peripheral artery disease, varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis with ultrasound testing, stents and vein procedures, and you go home the same day.
A free vascular screening is available for people with leg pain, swelling or sores that heal slowly, or with risk factors such as smoking, diabetes or high blood pressure. Request it at heartsouthpc.com or call the office.
Template module · Written block (style guide §11.7), the Heart South Vascular Institute as its own section of this care team page (DECISIONS: "The Heart South Vascular Institute: a section of Heart South's care team page"). Reshaped 2026-10-22 out of Who We Are, which the care team template keeps short.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to this practice: the physicians and advanced practice providers whose profiles name Heart South. Nothing is supplied. No doctor is named in this page's copy.
Template module · Fills itself from the practice's location records, one row for each of its three offices, each linking to the office building's facility page once the master mints it. The records do not exist yet, so their content is owed and is written here once (Q26; the live office pages). The live site names the offices Shelby, Clanton and Bibb; Q26 names them by town, Alabaster, Clanton and Centreville, and the page uses the towns. A fourth office in Hoover appears in Q29 and is on neither Q26 nor Heart South's own site, so it is left out (the URL map's decisions tab). The live office pages each show the same phone number, and a second number appears in the site header with no office named. The live pages list no hours.
| Record | Address | Phone | Hours | Heart care here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart South Cardiovascular Group, Alabaster | 1022 1st Street North, Suite 500, Alabaster, AL 35007 | (205) 663-5775 | Main office · cardiology visits · echocardiograms · the Heart South Vascular Institute and its vein center | |
| Heart South Cardiovascular Group, Clanton | 2034 Lay Dam Road, Suite 102, Clanton, AL 35045 | (205) 663-5775 | Cardiology visits · echocardiograms | |
| Heart South Cardiovascular Group, Centreville | 208 Pierson Avenue, Centreville, AL 35042 | (205) 663-5775 | Cardiology visits |
Heart South's cardiologists provide heart and vascular care, including imaging and vascular services.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareHeart South's cardiac imaging adds to the scans available close to home.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingTemplate modules · All fill themselves, filtered to this practice. The treatments the library holds for it include cardiac catheterization, coronary angioplasty and stents, pacemaker implantation, cardioversion, the loop recorder, the stress tests, Holter monitor, coronary calcium scoring, Doppler ultrasound, vascular angiography, anticoagulation monitoring, endovenous ablation, sclerotherapy and phlebectomy. Nothing is supplied.
Coronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseasePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Book a new patient visit or a follow-up online at heartsouthpc.com, or call the office at (205) 663-5775. If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.
Yes. Heart South has joined Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health. It keeps its name and its website while the move onto baptisthealthal.com is finished, so for now you book, pay a bill and use the patient portal at heartsouthpc.com. Your doctors and offices stay the same, and the practice will tell you ahead of any change.
It is a free check of the blood flow in your legs and the veins in them. It is for anyone with leg pain, cramping, swelling or heaviness, sores that do not heal, or risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. If it finds a problem, the team talks with you about a plan, which may be simple or may include a procedure. See peripheral artery disease.
Tests and visits happen at the offices. Arterial and vein procedures can be done at the Heart South Vascular Institute in Alabaster, and you go home the same day. Heart rhythm procedures are done in the electrophysiology lab at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital. The team tells you where yours will be done. See cardiac catheter ablation.
The practice has a testing prep sheet on its website, and the office will go over it when you schedule. Follow the instructions you were given for your own test, and call the office if anything is unclear. See exercise stress test and nuclear stress test.
Template module · Written copy. The reader is an existing Heart South patient wondering what the move means, or a new patient deciding whether to book. The first answer is the live site's booking path; the second answers the transition without a date (Q56 sets about January 2027 for the live site, which is a planning date and stays out of the copy). The prep-sheet answer points to a real resource on the live site.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The practice's live site has a patient stories section, a forms page and a cardiac glossary; the stories render here once they are on the team's record, and the testing prep sheet is a resource. No award or accreditation is confirmed for this practice, so the awards band stays empty.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Request an appointment and the practice will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentThe cardiology practice of Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, in Anniston. Heart care for adults at an office at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital on Leighton Avenue and an office on Christine Avenue.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field; 203 characters. The buttons are Call the Office, (256) 231-2577 (the number on the live Suite 702 page), and Find a Location. The online scheduling link for this practice is not known, so no Request an Appointment button appears until it is confirmed.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology is the cardiology practice for patients in and around Anniston. It is part of Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, and its Leighton Avenue office is in the Physician Office Building at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital, where many heart tests and procedures take place.
Your cardiologist looks into chest pain, shortness of breath, a racing or skipping heartbeat, and high blood pressure; manages long-term heart disease; orders and reads the tests; and works with the hospital's cardiac team when you need a procedure, a device or rehabilitation.
Template module · Written copy under Who we are, then THE FEATURES. Only one source describes this practice and it names one service, cardiology, so the second paragraph is written from what a general cardiology practice does and is marked. It makes no surgery claim. The hospital's catheterization labs, pacemakers, defibrillators, heart monitors and testing (Calhoun's live Cardiac Services page, which the URL map's decisions tab keeps) appear in the feature cards and on the Calhoun page; the three-phase cardiac rehabilitation is Calhoun's program, with its outpatient phases at the Medical Pavilion (the live rehabilitation page, the URL map's facility tab).
To check · Who we are, second paragraph:. Card 1:. Card 2:. Card 3:.
Rehabilitation begins in the hospital, moves to a supervised exercise program, and continues with check-ins as you recover. It is Calhoun's own program, with the outpatient phases at Medical Pavilion Anniston.
The Leighton Avenue office is in the Physician Office Building at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital, the hospital where the cardiac catheterization labs and heart tests are.
The hospital's cardiac team will help you schedule an appointment or explain what to expect before you come.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to this practice: the physicians whose profiles name Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston. Nothing is supplied. No doctor is named in this page's copy.
Template module · Fills itself from the practice's location records, one row for each office in the provider directory, each linking to the office building's facility page once the master mints it. The records do not exist yet, so their content is owed and is written here once. Q26 gives two buildings, 1700 Christine Avenue Suite 100 and 901 Leighton Avenue Suite 702, and the client's September 2026 roster agrees; Calhoun's live site also lists an RMC Cardiology office in Suite 307 whose physician is on neither list, so it is not this practice's office. The Suite 702 phone and hours are the live location page's own. Calhoun's Heart and Vascular Care page lists a cardiac office with another number, (256) 741-6464, and hours of Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 5, and gives the cardiac team line as (256) 235-5121, with no address for either; those are not assigned to an office here.
| Record | Address | Phone | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston (Leighton Avenue, Suite 702) | 901 Leighton Avenue, Suite 702, Anniston, AL 36207, in the Physician Office Building at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital | (256) 231-2577 | Monday to Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. |
| Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston (Christine Avenue, Suite 100) | 1700 Christine Avenue, Suite 100, Anniston, AL 36207 | (256) 238-1154 |
These cardiologists bring heart and vascular care to Anniston and Calhoun County.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareTemplate modules · All fill themselves, filtered to this practice. Services holds service lines only (§10.7 rule 30), from bh_heart_related_service_lines.md. The treatments the library holds for the Anniston area include cardiac catheterization, pacemaker implantation, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement, the echocardiogram, stress tests and cardiac rehabilitation, all at Calhoun. Nothing is supplied.
Coronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)Cardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placementA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitation[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call the Leighton Avenue office, Suite 702, at (256) 231-2577, Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For the Christine Avenue office, call (256) 238-1154. You can also call the hospital's cardiac team at (256) 235-5121, and they will help you schedule or explain what to expect. If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.
Many patients come on a primary care doctor's referral, and you can ask the office about booking on your own. Your insurance plan may have its own requirements, so check them before the visit.
The hospital has cardiac catheterization labs and does pacemaker, defibrillator and heart monitor placement, along with echocardiograms, stress tests, EKGs and ambulatory monitoring, which records your heart rhythm while you go about your day. See Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital, cardiac catheterization and echocardiogram.
Your cardiologist tells you which hospital performs it and arranges your care at another Baptist Health hospital. Your Anniston cardiologist stays involved.
Calhoun's program runs in three phases: it begins in the hospital, continues with a supervised exercise program, and then moves to outpatient follow-up with check-ins as you recover. The exercise and follow-up phases take place at Medical Pavilion Anniston. See cardiac rehabilitation and Medical Pavilion Anniston.
Chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, discomfort in the jaw, neck, shoulders, stomach or back, and unusual tiredness, nausea, vomiting or a cold sweat. Signs can look different in women. Call 911 and do not drive yourself to the hospital. See heart attack.
Template module · Written copy. The reader is an Anniston-area patient or family, often sent by a primary care doctor or the hospital. The first answer is the live location page's own phone and hours. The last answer is the live Heart and Vascular Care page's heart attack warning list, which states symptoms can look different in women. No answer touches surgery.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. No award or accreditation is confirmed for this practice, so the awards band stays empty. Calhoun's two heart articles are ported to the content hub and render here once they are on the team's record.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-21.
Request an appointment and the practice will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentWhen a heart valve or another part of the heart's structure is not working as it should, our team can often repair it through a thin tube placed in a blood vessel, and most people recover faster than after open-heart surgery.
Template module · Written copy (ours, 225 characters). The button calls the Baptist Health Valve Clinic, the patient-facing front desk the client named (Q47); it is the program's own door, so no practice is favored over another.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Your heart's structure includes its four valves, its walls and its chambers. When a valve narrows or leaks, or when a pouch in the heart called the left atrial appendage raises your risk of stroke, a structural heart procedure can repair the problem from inside the heart.
Our program offers transcatheter aortic valve replacement, mitral valve repair with a clip, tricuspid valve repair with a clip and left atrial appendage closure. Cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon review each person's care together, so you hear every option, including valve surgery when it is the better choice. Read more about heart valve disease.
Template module · Written block (§11.7). What structural heart care is, the procedures the client lists as offered (August and June answers), and why a program: one team that decides together.
Your first visit. For a valve problem, you begin at the Baptist Health Valve Clinic, where we review your symptoms, your history and the tests you have already had, so nothing is repeated without reason. For left atrial appendage closure, you begin with the cardiologist who follows your heart rhythm.
Tests that guide the plan. An echocardiogram, sometimes taken through the throat, a CT scan of the heart for some procedures, and often a cardiac catheterization show the size and shape of the valve or the appendage and the vessels a catheter would travel through.
One plan, made together. Our heart team reviews your results as a group and explains which procedure fits you, or whether surgery or medicine is the better path.
Your procedure and recovery. Most procedures are done through a small opening in the groin. Many people go home within one to three days, and follow-up echocardiograms check how your heart is working afterward.
Template module · Written sections with bold lead-ins (the program template). The steps follow the TAVR and mitral clip pages on this line, so the program and the library agree.
Our clinic sees people whose valve disease is changing and plans their next step. Find us at 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, Medical Office Building B, Suite 210, Birmingham, or call (205) 877-2901.
Interventional cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon review each case, and heart rhythm specialists join when the plan is to close the left atrial appendage, so the procedure you have is the one that fits your heart and your health.
Cardiac rehabilitation helps you rebuild strength and confidence with supervised exercise and guidance on medicines and daily habits. Button: Call the Valve Clinic → #call
Library module · The feature accordion (§11.9: 2 to 5 rows). The Valve Clinic row is Q47 in its facts, with the building as the live location record names it (MOB B; Q47's "MOB 2" was a slip, settled by the heart verify ledger H). The rehab row rests on the line's cardiac rehabilitation page (Princeton, Shelby, and Calhoun's program at the Anniston pavilion). Prompts for the marketer: a patient's story after TAVR · a short video from the program director · a "questions to bring to your first visit" sheet.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the program's clinicians, its director first: Stephen Bakir, MD, interventional cardiologist, director of the structural heart program (Q38, Q39). The Heart Team the August answers name (Dr. Papoy, Dr. Bakir, Dr. Sample, Dr. Jacob, Dr. Eagan) and the heart rhythm specialists who close the left atrial appendage list here too. Nothing else is supplied.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Template module · Fills itself from the program's location records: the Baptist Health Valve Clinic (Q47) and Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, where TAVR is consolidating (August answers).
For a valve problem, your cardiologist can refer you, and you can also call the Valve Clinic at (205) 877-2901 to ask about a visit. For left atrial appendage closure, start with the cardiologist who follows your heart rhythm. Bring a list of your medicines and any recent test results.
It depends on your valve, your heart and your other health conditions. Our heart team reviews your tests together and explains whether a catheter procedure, surgery or medicine fits you best.
Some procedures use general anesthesia and others use medicine that keeps you relaxed and comfortable. Your team tells you which to expect before the day.
Many people go home within one to three days. Your team tells you what to expect for your procedure.
You take the medicines your cardiologist prescribes, return for follow-up echocardiograms and build your activity back over a few weeks. After a valve procedure, many people join cardiac rehabilitation.
Template module · Written copy. Five questions a person weighing a structural procedure asks; each answer agrees with the library page it points to.
Cardiologists follow valve disease over time and refer you when a catheter repair may help.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareCT scans of the heart size the valve and map the vessels a catheter travels through.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingClosing the left atrial appendage lowers stroke risk for people with atrial fibrillation.
Learn More About NeuroscienceFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without...
Learn More About Transcatheter mitral valve repairLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke...
Learn More About Left atrial appendage closureAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your...
Learn More About Aortic valve repair or replacementA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationCall the Valve Clinic at (205) 877-2901, or ask your cardiologist to refer you.
Call the Valve ClinicA blood clot in the lungs needs care right away. If you have sudden shortness of breath, chest pain or you cough up blood, call 911. At three of our hospitals, a team of specialists decides together how to treat each clot.
Template module · Written copy (ours, 222 characters). No button: the reader cannot book this team, and the one action that matters, calling 911, is in the copy itself (bh_heart_page_choices.py, the emergency moment: the signs first, no sales button).
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
A pulmonary embolism happens when a blood clot, most often from a vein in the leg, travels to the lungs and blocks blood flow there. Read more about deep vein thrombosis, the leg clot that most often causes it.
At Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby hospitals, our pulmonary embolism response teams review each case and choose the treatment that fits the person, from medicine to a procedure that removes the clot.
Template module · Written block (§11.7). What a pulmonary embolism is, in the DVT page's words, and what the team does (Q51).
Finding the clot. A CT scan of the lung arteries shows whether a clot is there, where it is and how large it is. An ultrasound of the heart and blood tests show how hard the clot is making your heart work.
Deciding together. The team reviews your scan, your heart and your bleeding risk, then chooses the treatment that fits you.
Treating the clot. Many people are treated with blood thinners, which stop the clot from growing while your body breaks it down. For a larger clot, the team may deliver clot-dissolving medicine through a thin tube, or remove the clot in a procedure called a thrombectomy.
Care after you leave. Your doctors follow your blood thinner and your recovery, and blood specialists help when clots are hard to explain or keep coming back.
Template module · Written sections with bold lead-ins (the program template). The test is the DVT page's (CT pulmonary angiography); the treatments are Q51 (thrombectomy or a medical plan) and the June answers (catheter-directed thrombolysis); the follow-up is Q52 and the line's anticoagulation page.
Sudden shortness of breath, chest pain that is worse with a deep breath, a racing heartbeat, lightheadedness or fainting, and coughing up blood. Call 911 and do not drive yourself.
Hematologists, doctors who specialize in blood conditions, care for people with complex clotting problems at every Baptist Health hospital.
Taking your blood thinner as prescribed, moving often after surgery or on long trips, and keeping your follow-up visits all help prevent another clot.
Library module · The feature accordion (§11.9: 2 to 5 rows). The signs row repeats the DVT page's call-911 list. The specialists row is Q52. Prompts for the marketer: a patient's story of a clot found and treated · a short video from a team physician · a blood-thinner checklist for going home.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the team's clinicians at each hospital. Nothing is supplied.
Fills itself from this page's own record.
Template module · Fills itself from the team's location records: Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, Baptist Health Princeton Hospital and Baptist Health Shelby Hospital (Q51).
You do not need an appointment. If you have signs of a clot in the lungs, call 911. At Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby hospitals, the response team is brought in when a clot is found.
Many people recover with blood thinners alone. The team recommends a procedure when a clot is large or is straining the heart, and explains why before it begins.
Most people take one for at least a few months, and some for longer. Your doctor decides with you based on what caused the clot and your risk of another.
It can, which is why follow-up matters. Taking your blood thinner as prescribed and keeping your visits lower the chance of another clot.
Call 911 for new or worse shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, coughing up blood, or, on a blood thinner, bleeding that will not stop or black or bloody stools. Call the doctor the same day for new swelling, pain or warmth in a leg, or for bruising or minor bleeding that worries you.
Template module · Written copy. Five questions a patient or family asks after a pulmonary embolism; the blood-thinner length is said generally and points to the patient's own doctor.
Emergency care is often where a clot in the lungs is first found and treated.
Learn More About Emergency and Trauma CareLung and intensive care specialists support people whose breathing is strained by a clot.
Learn More About Pulmonary and Critical CareHeart and vessel specialists check the strain on the heart and treat large clots with a catheter.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareA CT scan of the lung arteries shows where a clot is and how much blood flow it blocks.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringThe programs on this line, each bringing a team together around one condition, one approach to care or one group of patients. Each page explains who it is for, what it offers and where.
Anticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin), regular blood checks guide your dose. Heart South's Coumadin clinic watches your results closely and adjusts your medicine when needed, so you stay in a safe range.
Learn MoreAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are found by scan, then watched over time. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers screening, monitoring and repair across Alabama.
Learn MoreAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body. It relieves breathlessness, chest pressure and fainting caused by a narrowed or leaking valve.
Learn MoreAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern. It is manageable, and Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it with heart rhythm specialists, testing, procedures and follow-up across Alabama.
Learn MoreCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the tiny area sending faulty signals, and energy treats it. It can lessen or end palpitations and other symptoms of an arrhythmia.
Learn MoreCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how well your arteries and heart are working, and it can find a blockage. Many people go home the same day.
Learn MoreA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a stent, heart surgery or a heart failure diagnosis. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers cardiac rehabilitation at Princeton, Shelby and Calhoun hospitals. Most programs run 36 sessions.
Learn MoreCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given medicine to sleep, a timed electrical shock restores a regular beat, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes no symptoms, and it is found with a painless ultrasound. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers monitoring, stenting and surgery across Alabama.
Learn MoreCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it open. It treats chest pain from coronary artery disease and restores blood flow during a heart attack.
Learn MoreCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked heart artery. It is a major operation that relieves chest pain and helps blood reach your heart muscle again.
Learn MoreCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every day, and most people manage it for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, cares for it across its Alabama practices and hospitals.
Learn MoreA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no needles and no fasting, and the scan itself takes about five minutes. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers it through Heart South, and your score helps your doctor judge your risk.
Learn MoreDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless ultrasound finds it. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, diagnoses and treats DVT, and three of its hospitals have teams ready for a clot in the lungs.
Learn MoreA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It involves no needles, no dye and no radiation, and it helps your care team find a blockage, a clot or a leaking vein.
Learn MoreA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how well it pumps and how its four valves open and close. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers echocardiograms at its hospitals and at heart practice offices across Alabama.
Learn MoreEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter in the vein and heats its wall, and blood reroutes through healthy veins. The procedure takes place in the office, and most people walk out afterward and return to daily life within days.
Learn MoreA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds when it works harder. It helps your doctor find heart disease, rhythm problems and damage. If you cannot exercise, medicine can give your heart the same stress.
Learn MoreA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many are manageable. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers rhythm testing, ablation and devices through heart rhythm specialists in Alabama.
Learn MoreA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, provides emergency heart care, then follow-up and rehabilitation close to home across Alabama.
Learn MoreHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, manages it through its cardiologists across Alabama, with testing, medicine and follow-up close to home.
Learn MoreHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are monitored for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers valve testing, a Valve Clinic, catheter-based valve procedures and valve surgery in Alabama.
Learn MoreA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It helps your doctor find rhythm problems that come and go, such as skipped beats, a racing heart or pauses. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers heart rhythm monitoring in its Alabama heart practices and hospitals.
Learn MoreAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm for months or years, so your doctor can find out why you faint, feel palpitations, or have had a stroke with no clear cause.
Learn MoreAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm around the clock and treats a dangerously fast rhythm, with pacing or a shock, to protect you from sudden cardiac arrest.
Learn MoreLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke risk. It is a one-time catheter procedure for people who cannot stay on blood thinners for life.
Learn MoreMitral valve surgery repairs a leaking or narrowed valve between the upper and lower left chambers of your heart, or replaces it when repair is not possible. Your surgeon chooses the best option for your valve and your health.
Learn MoreA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive tracer to show how well blood reaches your heart muscle. Stress comes from treadmill exercise or from medicine. Plan on three to four hours at Heart South's office.
Learn MoreA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses, and sends a small electrical signal that keeps your heart beating at a regular rate.
Learn MoreAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny balloon. It can ease leg pain when walking and helps blood reach tissue that needs it. Most people go home the same day.
Learn MorePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than they need. It is common, it can be found with a painless test, and it responds to care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it across Alabama.
Learn MorePhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of pain, and the procedure treats bulging surface veins that cause aching, heaviness and swelling. Many people go home the same day and walk right away.
Learn MoreSpecialists at three Baptist Health hospitals who decide together how to treat a blood clot in the lungs.
Learn MoreSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the vein shrinks, and blood moves through healthier veins. Visits are short, and some people need a series of treatments to reach the result they want.
Learn MoreA team that repairs heart valves and closes the heart's appendage through a small tube, often instead of open-heart surgery.
Learn MoreTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery, without opening your chest. It treats severe aortic stenosis, and a team of heart doctors decides together whether it is right for you.
Learn MoreTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without opening the chest. It can ease breathlessness and tiredness for people whose valve leaks and who are weighing surgery.
Learn MoreVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can ache, swell and itch, and they respond to minimally invasive care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats them at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover.
Learn MoreVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye, takes images as it flows through your arteries or veins, and can see narrowings, blockages and other changes in your legs, neck, belly or arms.
Learn MoreNo pages match. Clear a filter or try another word.
The heart and blood vessel conditions our teams diagnose and treat, from heart attack and arrhythmia to valve, artery and vein disease. Each page explains the condition, its warning signs and how it is treated.
Anticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin), regular blood checks guide your dose. Heart South's Coumadin clinic watches your results closely and adjusts your medicine when needed, so you stay in a safe range.
Learn MoreAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are found by scan, then watched over time. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers screening, monitoring and repair across Alabama.
Learn MoreAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body. It relieves breathlessness, chest pressure and fainting caused by a narrowed or leaking valve.
Learn MoreAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern. It is manageable, and Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it with heart rhythm specialists, testing, procedures and follow-up across Alabama.
Learn MoreCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the tiny area sending faulty signals, and energy treats it. It can lessen or end palpitations and other symptoms of an arrhythmia.
Learn MoreCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how well your arteries and heart are working, and it can find a blockage. Many people go home the same day.
Learn MoreA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a stent, heart surgery or a heart failure diagnosis. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers cardiac rehabilitation at Princeton, Shelby and Calhoun hospitals. Most programs run 36 sessions.
Learn MoreCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given medicine to sleep, a timed electrical shock restores a regular beat, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes no symptoms, and it is found with a painless ultrasound. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers monitoring, stenting and surgery across Alabama.
Learn MoreCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it open. It treats chest pain from coronary artery disease and restores blood flow during a heart attack.
Learn MoreCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked heart artery. It is a major operation that relieves chest pain and helps blood reach your heart muscle again.
Learn MoreCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every day, and most people manage it for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, cares for it across its Alabama practices and hospitals.
Learn MoreA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no needles and no fasting, and the scan itself takes about five minutes. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers it through Heart South, and your score helps your doctor judge your risk.
Learn MoreDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless ultrasound finds it. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, diagnoses and treats DVT, and three of its hospitals have teams ready for a clot in the lungs.
Learn MoreA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It involves no needles, no dye and no radiation, and it helps your care team find a blockage, a clot or a leaking vein.
Learn MoreA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how well it pumps and how its four valves open and close. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers echocardiograms at its hospitals and at heart practice offices across Alabama.
Learn MoreEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter in the vein and heats its wall, and blood reroutes through healthy veins. The procedure takes place in the office, and most people walk out afterward and return to daily life within days.
Learn MoreA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds when it works harder. It helps your doctor find heart disease, rhythm problems and damage. If you cannot exercise, medicine can give your heart the same stress.
Learn MoreA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many are manageable. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers rhythm testing, ablation and devices through heart rhythm specialists in Alabama.
Learn MoreA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, provides emergency heart care, then follow-up and rehabilitation close to home across Alabama.
Learn MoreHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, manages it through its cardiologists across Alabama, with testing, medicine and follow-up close to home.
Learn MoreHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are monitored for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers valve testing, a Valve Clinic, catheter-based valve procedures and valve surgery in Alabama.
Learn MoreA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It helps your doctor find rhythm problems that come and go, such as skipped beats, a racing heart or pauses. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers heart rhythm monitoring in its Alabama heart practices and hospitals.
Learn MoreAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm for months or years, so your doctor can find out why you faint, feel palpitations, or have had a stroke with no clear cause.
Learn MoreAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm around the clock and treats a dangerously fast rhythm, with pacing or a shock, to protect you from sudden cardiac arrest.
Learn MoreLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke risk. It is a one-time catheter procedure for people who cannot stay on blood thinners for life.
Learn MoreMitral valve surgery repairs a leaking or narrowed valve between the upper and lower left chambers of your heart, or replaces it when repair is not possible. Your surgeon chooses the best option for your valve and your health.
Learn MoreA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive tracer to show how well blood reaches your heart muscle. Stress comes from treadmill exercise or from medicine. Plan on three to four hours at Heart South's office.
Learn MoreA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses, and sends a small electrical signal that keeps your heart beating at a regular rate.
Learn MoreAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny balloon. It can ease leg pain when walking and helps blood reach tissue that needs it. Most people go home the same day.
Learn MorePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than they need. It is common, it can be found with a painless test, and it responds to care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it across Alabama.
Learn MorePhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of pain, and the procedure treats bulging surface veins that cause aching, heaviness and swelling. Many people go home the same day and walk right away.
Learn MoreSpecialists at three Baptist Health hospitals who decide together how to treat a blood clot in the lungs.
Learn MoreSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the vein shrinks, and blood moves through healthier veins. Visits are short, and some people need a series of treatments to reach the result they want.
Learn MoreA team that repairs heart valves and closes the heart's appendage through a small tube, often instead of open-heart surgery.
Learn MoreTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery, without opening your chest. It treats severe aortic stenosis, and a team of heart doctors decides together whether it is right for you.
Learn MoreTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without opening the chest. It can ease breathlessness and tiredness for people whose valve leaks and who are weighing surgery.
Learn MoreVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can ache, swell and itch, and they respond to minimally invasive care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats them at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover.
Learn MoreVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye, takes images as it flows through your arteries or veins, and can see narrowings, blockages and other changes in your legs, neck, belly or arms.
Learn MoreNo pages match. Clear a filter or try another word.
Coronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every day, and most people manage it for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, cares for it across its Alabama practices and hospitals.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may have heard the words from your doctor after a test, or felt a tightness in your chest on the stairs and wondered what it was. Coronary artery disease, often called CAD, is the most common reason a heart needs care. It usually builds slowly, and for most people it is a condition to manage over time, with a plan.
CAD happens when the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that feed your heart muscle, narrow because plaque has built up along their walls. Less blood reaches the heart, most noticeably when you are active. Some people feel chest pressure. Some feel only tiredness or breathlessness. Some feel nothing until a test finds it.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats CAD across its Alabama practices and hospitals, from the first appointment and testing through catheterization, stents, bypass surgery and cardiac rehabilitation. Your cardiologist follows you over time, so the people who know your heart are the ones adjusting your plan.
Your heart is a muscle, and like every muscle it needs a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood, which the coronary arteries deliver. In CAD, a fatty material called plaque collects along the inner walls of these arteries, so they stiffen and narrow and less blood gets through.
CAD usually develops over many years without symptoms, which is why checkups and risk screening help: once it is found, it can often be slowed.
Sometimes a piece of plaque breaks open and a blood clot forms on it. The clot can block blood flow to part of the heart muscle, which is a heart attack (see Heart attack). CAD is the underlying disease, and treatment aims to keep that from happening.
Women, older adults and people with diabetes often feel less typical symptoms: fatigue, breathlessness, or a mild ache in the back or jaw without any chest pressure.
Call 911 and do not drive yourself. Paramedics begin care the moment they arrive, and the dispatcher can tell you whether to chew an aspirin while you wait.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
CAD is caused by atherosclerosis: plaque made of cholesterol, fats, calcium and other substances builds up in the coronary artery walls over many years. Damage to the artery lining from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or high blood sugar helps plaque collect and grow.
Having risk factors does not mean you will develop CAD; they help your care team decide how closely to watch your heart.
Many risk factors can be changed, which lowers the risk of CAD and slows it once it is there. Not using tobacco, keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in range, staying active, eating mostly vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean protein, and reaching a healthy weight all help. Ask your doctor when to start checking cholesterol and blood pressure.
A cardiac evaluation starts with a conversation about your symptoms, your family history and your health, followed by a physical exam. Your cardiologist may then use one or more tests, chosen for you.
The right plan depends on where and how narrow your arteries are, your symptoms and your overall health.
Medicines that lower cholesterol and blood pressure, ease angina and reduce clot risk, together with food, movement and quitting tobacco, are the foundation of almost every plan, and many people need nothing beyond them.
Angioplasty and stents open a narrowed artery with a small balloon and hold it open with a tiny mesh tube, through a thin tube in the wrist or groin. Coronary artery bypass surgery is open-heart surgery that builds a new route for blood around blocked arteries, used when several arteries are involved or the blockages are hard to treat with a stent.
Stent or bypass? A stent opens one or a few blockages from the inside, with a quicker recovery; bypass reroutes blood around several blockages or ones in difficult places. For more complex disease, your cardiologist and a heart surgeon review your arteries together and talk it through with you.
Cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised program of exercise and education after a heart event or procedure.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team. Questions are expected, and a second opinion is welcome.
CAD is managed over time, with follow-up visits that keep your plan matched to your life. The habits that help most: take your medicines every day, including days you feel well; stay active the way your team sets out; stop tobacco; eat in a way that supports your heart; and bring any change in symptoms to your team early.
Chaplains are available at Baptist Health hospitals for patients and families who would like spiritual support during a hard diagnosis.
Bring your medicine list to each visit, and note how far you can walk before chest discomfort or breathlessness starts. Tell your team right away when that distance shortens, and tell them when a medicine causes side effects or before you stop any heart medicine.
Angina is chest discomfort that comes when the heart muscle is not getting enough blood, usually during exertion or stress. It often eases with rest. A heart attack is damage to the heart muscle from a blocked artery. If chest discomfort is new, severe or does not ease with rest, call 911.
Plaque that has built up usually cannot be fully reversed. Its progression can often be slowed, and with treatment and lifestyle changes many people notice improvements in how they feel. What is realistic depends on the extent of your disease, so it is a question for your cardiologist.
Yes. CAD can be significant without symptoms. Regular checkups, a talk with your doctor about your risk factors, and screening when your doctor recommends it can find it early.
Family history raises risk, especially a parent or sibling diagnosed young, but it does not mean you will have CAD. Share it with your care team.
For most people, yes, and regular activity is part of treatment. Ask your cardiologist what is right for you before starting something new. If activity brings on chest discomfort, stop and rest; if it does not ease within a few minutes, call 911. Cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised place to begin after a heart event or procedure.
Each practice books through its own scheduling link.
Cardiologists diagnose narrowed heart arteries and treat them with medicine, stents or bypass surgery.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareKeeping diabetes in range slows the plaque buildup that narrows the coronary arteries.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesYour primary care doctor checks blood pressure and cholesterol, the risks behind coronary artery disease.
Learn More About Primary CareLosing excess weight lowers the blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar that drive coronary disease.
Learn More About Weight Loss and Bariatric SurgeryA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive...
Learn More About Nuclear stress testA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no...
Learn More About Coronary calcium scoringCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsBaptist Health cardiologists see patients at practices across the Birmingham area and in Anniston.
Find a CardiologistHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, manages it through its cardiologists across Alabama, with testing, medicine and follow-up close to home.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
The shoes that stop fitting by evening. The second pillow you started using to breathe easier at night. The flight of stairs that used to be nothing and now needs a pause halfway up.
Heart failure is one of the most frightening names in medicine, and the first thing to say is what it does not mean: your heart has not stopped and it is not about to. It means the heart has lost some of its push, so blood and fluid back up, like water that drains slowly and rises behind the sink. That backing up causes most of what you feel, the breathlessness when fluid gathers in the lungs and the swelling when it gathers in the legs. Many people live with heart failure for years, with a plan.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, cares for heart failure through its cardiologists across its Alabama practices and hospitals. There is no separate clinic to find: you see a cardiologist who comes to know you, tracks how you are doing and adjusts your plan as your heart responds. This page covers what heart failure is, how it is found and managed, and the signs that need fast attention.
Heart failure is a long-term condition in which the heart cannot move enough blood to meet what the body needs. It happens in one of two ways, and sometimes both. In systolic heart failure (reduced ejection fraction), the heart muscle weakens and cannot squeeze forcefully enough. In diastolic heart failure (preserved ejection fraction), the muscle stiffens and cannot relax and fill properly between beats. Either way, less blood moves forward and more backs up behind the heart.
The body tries to compensate. The heart beats faster or enlarges, and the kidneys hold on to fluid. These adjustments help for a while and can add strain over time, which is why heart failure needs ongoing care.
Ejection fraction is a measurement of how much blood the heart pumps out with each beat, shown as a percentage on an echocardiogram. Your cardiologist uses it, with several other measures, to choose your treatment.
Symptoms often build slowly and are easy to blame on aging or being tired.
Sudden weight gain is the sign people miss most often, and the easiest one to catch at home.
Call 911 rather than driving.
Caught early, these are often handled with a change in medicine and no hospital stay.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Heart failure is usually the result of something else that has been working on the heart over time. The most common causes are coronary artery disease and a previous heart attack, long-standing high blood pressure, heart valve disease, cardiomyopathy (a disease of the heart muscle itself), long-standing irregular rhythms such as atrial fibrillation, and heart conditions present from birth. Often more than one is at work, and sometimes no clear cause is found.
These raise the chance of heart failure, and many can be treated or changed:
Treating the conditions that lead to heart failure is the strongest protection: keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in range, not using tobacco, limiting alcohol, staying active and reaching a healthy weight. If you already have coronary disease, a valve problem or atrial fibrillation, keeping up with that care protects the heart muscle too.
The first visit is a conversation about what you have noticed and what your heart has been through. The central test is an echocardiogram, an ultrasound that shows the structure of your heart and measures how well it pumps. Alongside it your team may use:
No one test makes the diagnosis alone. Your team reads them together with your history.
Treatment is built around the type of heart failure you have, its cause and how far it has progressed, and for most people it is ongoing care with a general cardiologist.
Several drug families work together: easing the heart's workload, clearing extra fluid, steadying rhythm and protecting the heart muscle. Daily habits help too: weighing yourself every morning, watching salt and fluid as your team directs, and staying active at a level your team sets.
Care for coronary disease, a valve problem or a rhythm problem often improves how the heart works.
A pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator helps when rhythm or the risk of a dangerous rhythm calls for one. Cardiac rehabilitation offers supervised exercise and education.
For the smaller number of people who need options such as a heart pump or transplant evaluation, your cardiologist connects you with an advanced heart failure center.
After a hospital stay for heart failure, a prompt follow-up visit matters, because the risk of returning is highest in the first weeks. The goal is to see you within 7 days of discharge.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Day to day, a few habits protect you most: taking every medicine as prescribed even on days you feel well, weighing yourself on the same scale at the same time each day, watching for swelling, and staying active the way your team has set out. Flu, COVID-19 and pneumonia vaccines protect a heart with less reserve. Ask your care team to help you list your own early warning signs.
If you are the family member who keeps track of the medicines and the scale each morning, this care is for you too. Chaplains and spiritual care are available at Baptist Health hospitals for any patient or family who would like them.
Bring your daily weight log and medicine list to each visit. Tell your team the same day when your weight or swelling rises or your breathing changes, and call 911 for sudden or severe breathing trouble. Tell them when a medicine causes side effects, and before you stop or change any medicine, including over-the-counter pain relievers, which can make heart failure worse.
No. Heart failure means the heart does not pump as well as it should. The heart keeps beating. Many people live with heart failure for years, managing it with medicine, daily habits and regular visits.
Sometimes. When the cause can be treated, such as a rhythm problem, a valve problem or a thyroid condition, heart function can improve. For others, the goal is to feel better, stay out of the hospital and keep the condition from worsening. What is realistic depends on the cause and type, so ask your cardiologist.
Fluid collects before you feel breathless. A gain of a few pounds over a few days is often the earliest sign. Reporting it that day lets your team adjust your medicine before you get sick.
Call your cardiology team. They expect to hear from you between appointments. Call the same day for rising weight, new swelling or a cough that keeps going, and call 911 for severe breathing trouble or chest pain.
No. A heart attack is a sudden blockage of blood to part of the heart muscle. Heart failure is a long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood for the body's needs; a heart attack is one of its causes.
Heart failure is managed by general cardiologists. Baptist Health does not have a separate heart failure clinic or program. Each practice books through its own scheduling link.
Cardiologists find the cause of heart failure and adjust medicines, devices and follow-up over time.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareHeart failure and kidney disease often occur together; kidney doctors help balance fluid and medicines.
Learn More About NephrologySleep apnea is common with heart failure, and treating it can ease the strain on the heart.
Learn More About Sleep MedicineCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placementA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationBaptist Health cardiologists see patients at practices across the Birmingham area and in Anniston.
Find a CardiologistAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern. It is manageable, and Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it with heart rhythm specialists, testing, procedures and follow-up across Alabama.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You noticed your heart fluttering, racing or skipping, or a routine exam found an irregular rhythm you never felt. Either way, a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation brings questions: what this means for daily life, whether it is dangerous, and what happens next.
AFib is a problem with the heart's electrical signals. The two upper chambers, the atria, receive disorganized signals and quiver instead of contracting in an even rhythm. It is common, and most people with AFib go on to live full, active lives once it is understood and managed. The part that deserves attention is stroke risk, because blood that does not move well through the atria can form clots. Both the rhythm and the stroke risk have well-established treatments.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats AFib across its Alabama practices and hospitals, with cardiologists and heart rhythm specialists, rhythm monitoring, cardioversion, catheter ablation and stroke-prevention options. Your cardiologist follows you over time and brings in a heart rhythm specialist when your plan calls for one.
Your heart has an electrical system that tells the upper and lower chambers when to contract, one after the other. In AFib, the signals in the atria become chaotic. The atria quiver and the rhythm becomes irregular, often fast. That changes how efficiently blood moves into the lower chambers, the ventricles, and out to the body.
AFib comes in forms, and the form you have affects how it is monitored and treated.
Some people feel AFib strongly. Others feel nothing and learn about it at a routine exam. How much you feel says little about how important the condition is, which is why an evaluation matters even when you feel fine.
Symptoms differ from person to person and from one episode to the next. Episodes can come during exercise, at rest or in sleep, and their frequency can change over time.
Call rather than driving; care begins when paramedics arrive.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
AFib starts when the tissue of the atria changes so that its electrical signals no longer travel in an orderly way. Most often, that change comes from another condition that strains or stretches the heart:
AFib can develop at any adult age, and risk rises after 60. Having risk factors does not mean you will develop AFib, and some people with AFib have none.
Not every case can be prevented, and some of the risk factors, such as age and family history, cannot be changed. The rest often can. Keeping blood pressure under control, limiting alcohol, staying active and reaching a healthy weight all lower the chance of developing AFib and of episodes coming back once you have it, and treating sleep apnea may help as well.
Evaluation starts with your symptoms, how long they last, what brings them on or relieves them, and your health history. Tests that find and track the rhythm:
There is no single right answer. Your plan depends on your type of AFib, your symptoms, your stroke risk and your overall health, and you make the decisions together with your cardiologist or heart rhythm specialist.
Medicines that slow the rate or control the rhythm are a common starting point, especially when symptoms are manageable, and many people also take a blood thinner to lower stroke risk. For many people, medicine and monitoring work well.
Cardioversion is a brief, controlled electrical shock, given while you are sedated, that resets the heart to a normal rhythm. Catheter ablation targets the small areas of heart tissue sending the irregular signals, to restore a regular rhythm; it is considered when medicine is not enough or when you and your specialist decide it is the right next step. Baptist Health's heart rhythm specialists offer pulsed field ablation among their methods. Left atrial appendage closure, with the Watchman device, is a one-time implant that closes off the part of the heart where AFib-related clots tend to form, for people who need an alternative to long-term blood thinners. Some people whose heart rate drops too low need a pacemaker.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team. You will not be rushed, and a second opinion is welcome.
Taking your medicines on schedule, especially a blood thinner if you have one, is the habit that matters most. Keep your follow-up visits, tell your team about new symptoms or a change in how often episodes come, and ask before starting new medicines or supplements, since some interact with blood thinners. Blood pressure, weight, sleep apnea and alcohol all affect AFib, so working on them often helps. For people with an implanted device, Baptist Health's heart lab at Cardiovascular Associates' main location can follow many devices remotely, which means fewer trips.
Bring your questions to every visit, and keep a note of your episodes: when they started, how long they lasted and what you were doing. Tell your team if your symptoms change, if a medicine gives you side effects, or before any surgery or dental work, since your blood thinner plan may need adjusting. A change in how AFib feels is worth a call, even between visits.
A fast heartbeat can come from exercise, stress, fever, dehydration or caffeine, and it keeps an even beat. AFib is irregular as well as often fast, because the atria send disorganized signals. An EKG is the standard way to tell AFib from other rhythm problems.
Paroxysmal AFib stops on its own, and an episode may end before you see a doctor. The underlying condition can still be there, so it should be evaluated even after symptoms fade.
For most people AFib is not an immediate emergency, and many live full, active lives with care. Its main risk over time is stroke, since clots can form in the atria, along with a tired heart if the rate stays fast. Evaluation and follow-up lower those risks.
Not everyone. The decision rests on your individual stroke risk, which your doctor assesses. Do not start or stop a blood thinner without talking to your care team.
Often. Blood pressure, weight, sleep, alcohol and activity are all linked to AFib. Ask your care team which changes matter most for you.
Each practice books through its own scheduling link.
Heart rhythm specialists treat AFib with medicine, cardioversion or ablation, and plan stroke prevention.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareAFib raises the risk of stroke; neurologists care for stroke and help find AFib as its cause.
Learn More About NeuroscienceTreating sleep apnea can help a regular heart rhythm last after AFib treatment.
Learn More About Sleep MedicineAn overactive thyroid can trigger AFib, and thyroid treatment is part of finding the cause.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)A small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardiac loop recorder placementA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke...
Learn More About Left atrial appendage closureBaptist Health cardiologists see patients at practices across the Birmingham area and in Anniston.
Find a CardiologistA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, provides emergency heart care, then follow-up and rehabilitation close to home across Alabama.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you think you or someone near you is having a heart attack right now, stop reading and call 911.
A heart attack, medically a myocardial infarction, happens when a blockage in a coronary artery cuts off blood to part of the heart muscle. The longer the blockage lasts, the more muscle is damaged, which is why speed matters and why paramedics start treatment on the way to the hospital. Most heart attacks begin when plaque inside a coronary artery breaks open and a blood clot forms on it.
If you are reading this after a heart attack, your own or a family member's, the rest of the page is for you. A heart attack is a serious event and it is also the start of a recovery you and your cardiologist build together. Many people return to full, active lives. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats heart attacks in its hospitals across Alabama, and its cardiologists follow you through recovery and prevention afterward.
A heart attack is a sudden blockage of blood flow to part of the heart muscle. Without blood, that muscle is starved of oxygen and begins to be injured. Opening the artery quickly limits the damage, and that is the first goal of the emergency team.
There are two main types, and your team will tell you which one you had.
A heart attack is a sudden event. It differs from coronary artery disease, the long-term narrowing of the arteries that usually causes it, and from angina, temporary chest discomfort when the heart is short of blood.
Heart attack symptoms vary. Some are sudden and severe, others mild and building over minutes to hours.
Women, older adults and people with diabetes are more likely to have shortness of breath, jaw or back pain, nausea or tiredness without classic chest pressure. Do not dismiss new or unusual symptoms as indigestion, anxiety or a pulled muscle.
Do not wait to see whether the pain passes. Do not drive yourself or have someone drive you: the ambulance team can start treatment and alert the hospital on the way.
Stay on the line with the dispatcher. If the dispatcher tells you to chew an aspirin, and you are not allergic, do so. Every minute of delay raises the risk of permanent damage to the heart muscle.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most heart attacks happen when a patch of plaque in a coronary artery breaks open and a blood clot forms on it, blocking blood flow to part of the heart muscle. Less often, a coronary artery tightens in a spasm, or a tear in the artery wall, called spontaneous coronary artery dissection, blocks the flow.
The same factors that lead to coronary artery disease raise the risk of a heart attack. Having them does not make a heart attack inevitable, and knowing yours is a reason to keep up with regular checkups.
The steps that protect against coronary artery disease also lower the risk of a heart attack: not using tobacco, keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in range, staying active, and eating mostly vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean protein. After a first heart attack, taking your medicines every day and completing cardiac rehabilitation lower the chance of another.
A heart attack is diagnosed in the emergency setting, where evaluation and treatment move together.
Treatment has two stages: emergency care to open the artery, and recovery care that protects your heart.
The goal is to restore blood flow fast, most often with angioplasty and a stent in a cardiac catheterization lab. A small balloon opens the artery and a tiny mesh tube holds it open. The Baptist Health hospitals that perform emergency stenting meet the national benchmark for door-to-balloon time, the measure of how quickly an artery is opened after a patient arrives. Medicine can also be used to dissolve a clot or protect the heart. Some people need bypass surgery afterward.
At a close follow-up visit, your cardiologist reviews your medicines and test results, checks how you feel and adjusts your plan. Secondary prevention is the ongoing work of lowering the chance of a second event, through medicines, blood pressure and cholesterol control, and daily habits. Cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised program of monitored exercise, education and support, often recommended after a heart attack.
The first weeks home are tender. It is normal to feel watchful, to wonder with every twinge whether it is happening again, and to grieve the sense of safety you had before. That feeling eases, faster with a cardiologist who knows your history and a team you can reach.
Recovery times vary with how severe the heart attack was, how fast treatment began and your overall health. Some people are back to normal activities in a few weeks and others need longer. Bring your questions about activity, work and medicines to your follow-up visit.
Keep every follow-up visit and bring your medicine list. Tell your team when a medicine causes side effects, before you stop any heart medicine, when you feel low or anxious for more than a couple of weeks, and before you return to driving, work or strenuous activity.
A heart attack is a circulation problem: a blockage cuts off blood to the heart muscle. Cardiac arrest is an electrical problem: the heart stops beating effectively. A heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest needs immediate CPR and a defibrillator. If you are unsure what is happening, call 911 and the dispatcher will guide you.
It varies. Some people return to normal activities within a few weeks, and others need more time and support. Your care team will tell you what to expect, including activity limits, follow-up visits and long-term monitoring.
Most likely some part of it. Changes in activity, food and tobacco use lower the risk of another event. Your team will help you pick the changes that fit your life.
A supervised program of exercise, heart-health education and support for emotional recovery. Cardiologists often recommend it after a heart attack, and it is associated with better recovery for many people. Ask your care team about it once the acute phase of your care is over.
Having had one raises the chance of future events, which is why follow-up care, medicines and risk-factor control matter. Many people go on to live many years with good quality of life when their follow-up is consistent.
In an emergency, call 911. The ambulance takes you to a hospital emergency department, where the team begins care.
A heart attack is a 911 emergency: emergency teams start treatment and alert the cath lab on the way in.
Learn More About Emergency and Trauma CareAfter the emergency, cardiologists open the artery and lead recovery, medicines and cardiac rehab.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareAfter a heart attack, primary care helps keep blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes in range.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationAfter the hospital, our cardiologists follow your heart care, and cardiac rehabilitation helps you build back strength.
About Cardiac RehabFind a CardiologistHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are monitored for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers valve testing, a Valve Clinic, catheter-based valve procedures and valve surgery in Alabama.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor heard a murmur, or told you a valve is narrowed or leaking, you may be picturing open-heart surgery. Valve disease is usually a condition you watch and plan for, and it rarely calls for action overnight. Many people live well for years with regular monitoring, and when a valve does need treatment, there is more than one way to do it.
Your heart has four valves, the aortic, mitral, tricuspid and pulmonary, that open and close with every beat to keep blood moving in the right direction. In valve disease, one or more of them stops working as it should, which makes the heart work harder over time.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, evaluates and treats valve disease across its Alabama practices and hospitals. Cardiologists follow your valves with imaging, a structural Heart Team reviews cases together, and the Baptist Health Valve Clinic is the referral point for more specialized valve care.
The valves act as one-way gates. In valve disease, a valve fails in one of two ways.
Some valve problems are present from birth. Others develop later with age, infection, inflammatory conditions or other heart disease. What happens next depends on which valve is affected, the type and degree of the problem, and how well the heart is coping. Valve disease often progresses slowly, which is why regular monitoring is a central part of care.
A heart murmur is an extra sound a doctor hears through a stethoscope. Many murmurs are harmless. Others point to a valve worth watching. A murmur is a reason to check, and it is often how valve disease is first found.
Valve disease often comes on slowly, and some people feel nothing at all. When there are signs:
Symptoms can worsen gradually, so tell your care team about changes between visits.
Most valve disease is not an emergency.
Call instead of driving yourself. Care begins when paramedics arrive.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
The most common cause is age: valves stiffen and collect calcium as the heart ages. Others are a valve problem present from birth, scarring after rheumatic fever, an infection of the heart lining or valves (endocarditis), and changes from other heart disease that stretch or damage the valve.
Valve disease can affect people of any age. Factors linked to a higher chance:
Many people with valve disease have none of these.
Valve disease is often suspected when a doctor hears a murmur at a routine exam, or when imaging done for another reason shows it. A detailed evaluation follows.
The right path depends on which valve is affected, how it is behaving and whether you have symptoms. For many people, the answer for now is to watch it closely.
For mild disease, regular check-ins and periodic imaging confirm that nothing is changing faster than expected. This is care, and many people stay here for years. Medicines can ease symptoms and manage related problems such as fluid buildup or an irregular rhythm. They do not repair a valve.
Some valves can be treated through a thin tube guided to the heart, without opening the chest. Baptist Health's structural Heart Team offers transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for a narrowed aortic valve and transcatheter mitral valve repair (MitraClip) for a leaking mitral valve. TriClip, a transcatheter therapy for a leaking tricuspid valve, is also offered. TAVR is performed at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital. Left atrial appendage closure lowers stroke risk in some people with atrial fibrillation. Other structural heart care includes ASD and PFO closure, and balloon valvuloplasty.
Some valves are best treated with surgery, where the valve is repaired or replaced directly. A cardiac surgeon performs aortic valve repair or replacement and mitral valve repair or replacement, with mechanical and tissue valve options your surgeon will discuss with you.
Will I need surgery? Often not, and rarely right away. Many valve conditions are watched for years without a procedure. Whether and when to treat depends on the valve, the type and degree of the problem, your symptoms and how your heart is coping. None of that is decided in one visit. When treatment is considered, the Heart Team reviews your case together and recommends the option that fits you. A second opinion is welcome.
Plan on regular follow-up, usually with periodic echocardiograms and a check-in about symptoms. Tell your team early when you notice a change. Some people have few limits on activity, and others receive guidance on exercise, dental care or antibiotics before certain procedures. Your cardiologist will tell you what applies to your valve. Keep your dental checkups, because infection in the mouth can reach damaged valves.
Keep your follow-up visits and echocardiograms on schedule, even when you feel well. Tell your team the same day when your breathing, energy or swelling changes, and tell them before any dental work or procedure if you have an artificial valve, and before you stop any heart medicine.
No. Some murmurs are innocent and have no structural cause. Others reflect a valve problem. Your doctor decides from how the murmur sounds and your overall health whether to order an echocardiogram.
Many forms do progress gradually, at a pace that varies a great deal. Periodic echocardiograms and symptom check-ins catch changes early, so treatment can come at the right time.
Not always. Some valve conditions are monitored for years or decades. You and your cardiologist keep talking about it over time, and nothing is decided at diagnosis.
Yes. Some valve conditions are present from birth and are found in childhood or adulthood. Rheumatic fever can also damage valves in younger people. Share any family history of heart conditions with your care team.
It depends on your valve and how severe the problem is. Ask your cardiologist about activity, dental care and whether you need antibiotics before dental or other procedures.
Each practice books through its own scheduling link.
Cardiologists follow valve disease with echocardiograms and plan repair or replacement when it is needed.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareA heart murmur heard at a routine checkup is often how valve disease is first found.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without...
Learn More About Transcatheter mitral valve repairLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke...
Learn More About Left atrial appendage closureAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your...
Learn More About Aortic valve repair or replacementMitral valve surgery repairs a leaking or narrowed valve between the upper and lower left chambers of your heart, or...
Learn More About Mitral valve repair or replacementBaptist Health cardiologists see patients at practices across the Birmingham area and in Anniston.
Find a CardiologistPeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than they need. It is common, it can be found with a painless test, and it responds to care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it across Alabama.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Leg pain that shows up when you walk and fades when you stop is easy to blame on age. Often it is a sign that the arteries in your legs have narrowed. That is peripheral artery disease, usually called PAD, and finding it gives you and your care team a chance to protect your legs and the rest of your circulation.
PAD comes from the same slow buildup of plaque that can narrow the arteries of the heart. It is common, it is well understood, and most people manage it over time with their care team. Some people feel nothing at all, so PAD is sometimes found during a check for something else.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, evaluates and treats PAD across its Alabama practices. Testing and follow-up happen close to home, and Baptist Health's interventional cardiologists perform PAD procedures from inside the artery. This page covers the signs, the tests, the treatment options and where to find care.
Your arteries move blood from your heart to the rest of your body. In peripheral artery disease, plaque (a fatty buildup) narrows the arteries that supply your legs and feet, and sometimes your arms. Narrowed arteries let less blood through. Your muscles then receive less oxygen than they need, most noticeably when you are active.
The same process, called atherosclerosis, can affect the arteries of the heart and the arteries that supply the brain. Because of that link, finding PAD tells your care team something useful about your whole circulation. Many people with PAD are also checked for coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease.
PAD often starts slowly. Symptoms usually appear in the legs and feet:
Some people have no symptoms. Leg pain that comes with walking deserves a check, even when it seems like a normal part of getting older.
Treatment works best the sooner blood flow returns, so call right away.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
PAD develops when plaque builds up inside the artery walls over many years, the same process, atherosclerosis, that narrows the arteries of the heart.
These factors raise the chance of PAD:
Several of these respond to daily choices and to medicine, which is why PAD care starts with them. Not using tobacco is the most important step, along with keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in range and walking or staying active most days.
Your care team starts with your history and an exam, including a check of the pulses in your legs and feet and the condition of your skin. The tests that follow are painless in most cases:
Most people begin with the first approach below, and many never need the others. The right plan depends on your symptoms, where the narrowing is, and your overall health, and you decide it together with your specialist.
This forms the base of nearly every PAD plan: stopping tobacco, managing blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, taking medicines that lower the chance of clots and heart attack, and keeping active. Walking within your team's guidance helps many people. Repeat ABI and ultrasound checks follow your arteries over the years.
Baptist Health's interventional cardiologists reach the narrowed artery through a small access point instead of open surgery. They can open the artery with a balloon and stent, or use atherectomy to shave away hardened plaque and restore blood flow. They can also place a stent in a narrowed kidney artery when that is needed. Read more on the peripheral artery angioplasty and stenting page.
A procedure to restore blood flow is considered when the narrowing is significant, when leg pain limits your life despite other steps, or when a wound needs better blood supply to heal. Most people with PAD manage well without one, especially early on. A second opinion is always welcome.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
PAD becomes a long-term partnership with your care team. Take your medicines every day, including on days your legs feel fine. Walk as your team advises. Look at your feet daily for sores, color changes or cracks. If you smoke, your team can help you quit, which is the most helpful step for your arteries. Keep your follow-up visits so any change in blood flow is caught early.
A chaplain and spiritual care are available to any patient or family who would like them, alongside the medical plan.
Tell your team how far you can walk before leg pain starts, and call when that distance shortens. Bring your medicine list to each visit, show your team any sore that is slow to heal, and ask before you stop any medicine.
Claudication is cramping, aching or tiredness in the legs that comes on with walking and eases with rest. It happens because working muscles are not receiving enough blood.
Yes. PAD and coronary artery disease come from the same process, plaque buildup in the arteries. Having PAD raises the chance of narrowing in the heart and brain arteries too, so your care team may look at your whole circulation.
Most people with PAD never do. Serious outcomes become far less likely when PAD is found and cared for early. The higher risk belongs to advanced disease and to wounds that will not heal, which is why a check sooner is better than later.
Regular walking improves leg symptoms and walking distance for many people with PAD. Ask your care team how far and how often to walk.
No. Leg pain, cramping and swelling can come from muscles, joints, nerves or veins. An exam and a simple test tell your care team which it is. Swollen or achy legs may point to a vein condition, such as varicose veins.
PAD is cared for by the heart and vascular team, so there is no separate department to find.
Vascular specialists treat narrowed leg arteries with medicine, walking plans and procedures to restore flow.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareDiabetes raises the risk of PAD and foot wounds, and diabetes care helps protect the legs and feet.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesPrimary care can check the pulses in your legs and order a simple test when walking brings on leg pain.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes...
Learn More About Carotid artery diseaseVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are...
Learn More About Aortic aneurysmDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye,...
Learn More About Vascular angiographyAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingOur practices diagnose and treat artery and vein conditions, from screening to procedures.
Find a CardiologistA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many are manageable. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers rhythm testing, ablation and devices through heart rhythm specialists in Alabama.
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If you have been told your heart beats too fast, too slow or out of rhythm, the first thing to know is that most heart rhythm problems are manageable. A rhythm problem, called an arrhythmia, means the electrical signals that set your heartbeat are firing at the wrong speed or in the wrong pattern. Heart doctors work with these every day, and many people with one go on to live full, active lives.
The name covers a family of conditions. A heartbeat that is too fast is called tachycardia and one that is too slow is bradycardia. Some arrhythmias are harmless, like an occasional skipped beat. Others need treatment. Telling them apart takes a look at your rhythm, so an evaluation is worthwhile even when you feel fine.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, evaluates and treats arrhythmias across its Alabama practices and hospitals, with cardiologists, heart rhythm specialists called electrophysiologists, rhythm monitoring, ablation, pacemakers and defibrillators. Atrial fibrillation, the most common irregular rhythm, has its own page: Atrial fibrillation.
Your heartbeat starts in the sinoatrial node in the upper right chamber, which sends an electrical impulse through the upper chambers (atria) and then the lower chambers (ventricles), so they contract in order. An arrhythmia happens when this system misfires. The main kinds:
An arrhythmia is an electrical timing problem. It does not mean your heart is failing or about to stop.
SVT is a group of fast rhythms that start above the ventricles. Episodes begin and end suddenly, with a rapid, regular heartbeat, and sometimes shortness of breath, dizziness or chest tightness. SVT is rarely life-threatening, and it can be disruptive and frightening.
Atrial flutter is a fast, usually regular rhythm in the upper chambers, caused by an electrical signal that circles in the atria. Like AFib, its close relative, flutter can raise the chance of a blood clot and stroke, so your doctor will talk with you about stroke prevention.
Some people feel nothing and learn of the rhythm on a monitor. Occasional palpitations are common and often harmless, from premature beats, caffeine, stress or tiredness.
Most arrhythmias are not emergencies.
Call instead of driving; care begins when paramedics arrive.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
An arrhythmia starts when the heart's electrical signal forms in the wrong place, travels a short circuit, or is slowed or blocked. Scar tissue from a heart attack, a stretched or thickened heart muscle, an aging natural pacemaker, an overactive thyroid or low potassium can all change how the signal moves.
Arrhythmias occur in healthy hearts and in people with heart disease. Factors linked to a higher chance include:
Many people with an arrhythmia have none of these.
Diagnosis means capturing the heart's electrical activity during an episode. Because arrhythmias come and go, that can take more than one test.
The right path depends on the type, your symptoms and your overall health, and you decide it with your specialist. Many arrhythmias, premature beats especially, need only monitoring.
Medicines control the rate or rhythm, with checks in the office and remote monitoring. Cardioversion is a brief controlled shock, under sedation, that resets a fast rhythm. For SVT, simple maneuvers that slow the heart are often the first step.
Catheter ablation uses a catheter to reach the small areas of tissue sending faulty signals and treat them, restoring a regular rhythm. It is considered when medicine is not enough or when you and your specialist decide it is the next step. For SVT it can end the problem, and for typical atrial flutter it is highly effective for most people, with a blood thinner often part of the plan. See also Atrial fibrillation.
A pacemaker is a small implanted device that keeps the heart from beating too slowly. Leadless pacemakers, which need no wires, are available for the right patients. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) watches for a dangerous fast rhythm and corrects it. A subcutaneous option, placed under the skin without wires in the heart, is available for the right patients.
If the idea of a device in your chest worries you, that is a common feeling and a fair thing to tell your care team. A second opinion is welcome.
Take your medicines as prescribed, keep follow-up visits and tell your team about new symptoms. Caffeine, alcohol and stimulants can trigger episodes, so ask what applies to you. For people with a pacemaker or ICD, the heart lab at the main Cardiovascular Associates location can follow many devices remotely, which means fewer trips.
Keep a short log of episodes: when they start, how long they last and what you were doing. Bring it to each visit, and tell your team when episodes change, when a medicine causes side effects, or before you stop any rhythm medicine.
No. Premature beats, for example, are extremely common and often harmless. Some arrhythmias do affect how the heart works and need care. How significant one is depends on its type, how your heart handles it and your overall health.
Fainting happens when a rhythm that is very fast or very slow briefly lowers blood flow to the brain. Many things besides the heart can cause fainting, so it needs a full evaluation.
During exercise the heart speeds up to meet your body's needs and slows afterward. An arrhythmia is a fault in the electrical system itself, a rhythm that is too fast, too slow or irregular without a clear reason. An EKG can tell the difference.
Occasional palpitations are common and often harmless. See someone if they are new, frequent, long-lasting, or come with dizziness, shortness of breath or fainting, or if you have heart disease or high blood pressure. Your primary care doctor is a good first call.
Most people do. Most return to work, exercise and travel once the site heals, and your care team tells you what to keep away from the device.
Each practice books through its own scheduling link.
Heart rhythm specialists find the rhythm with monitors and treat it with medicine, ablation or a device.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareSleep apnea can trigger rhythm problems, and treating it is part of keeping the heartbeat steady.
Learn More About Sleep MedicineThyroid problems can speed or slow the heart, so thyroid tests are often part of the workup.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardiac loop recorder placementA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationBaptist Health cardiologists see patients at practices across the Birmingham area and in Anniston.
Find a CardiologistAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are found by scan, then watched over time. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers screening, monitoring and repair across Alabama.
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If you were just told you have an aortic aneurysm, or a scan found one by surprise, you have time to learn what it means. For many people an aneurysm is found early, watched with regular scans, and managed for years. It is a weak spot in the wall of your aorta, the largest blood vessel in your body, and most of them grow slowly.
Many aneurysms cause no symptoms at all, so finding one is often the most important step. Size and growth guide nearly every decision, and your care team follows both closely.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, evaluates, monitors and repairs aortic aneurysms across its Alabama practices and hospitals, and offers screening to people at higher risk. Below you will find what an aneurysm is, how it is found and watched, and how repair works when it is needed, and which Baptist Health practices and hospitals provide each step.
Your aorta runs from your heart through your chest and into your abdomen, where it branches to supply your legs and pelvis. An aneurysm forms when a section of the aortic wall weakens and bulges outward, like a worn spot on a garden hose.
Doctors name an aneurysm by where it forms. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) forms in the belly and is the most common kind. A thoracic aortic aneurysm forms in the chest. Some involve both areas. Your care team measures the width of the bulge, because size and the speed of growth shape the plan.
Most aortic aneurysms cause no symptoms. When they do, you may notice:
New belly or back pain deserves an exam, particularly if you have risk factors.
Call 911 instead of driving yourself. Care begins the moment paramedics arrive.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
An aneurysm forms when the wall of the aorta weakens over time. Wear from high blood pressure, damage from smoking and atherosclerosis, an inherited connective tissue condition, and, rarely, an infection or injury can all weaken the wall until it bulges.
Aneurysms are more common with age, and these factors raise the chance:
Tell your care team about any relative who had an aneurysm. It is a reason to be checked.
Not using tobacco is the most important step, since smoking is the strongest link to abdominal aneurysms. Keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in range also protects the aortic wall, and screening finds an aneurysm early, while it is small and can be watched.
Because aneurysms are usually silent, imaging finds most of them:
When an aneurysm is found, scans repeat on a schedule your team sets so any change is caught early.
Baptist Health offers AAA screening proactively. A screening is a quick, painless ultrasound of the belly, usually done once. National guidance recommends it for men aged 65 to 75 who have ever smoked, and your doctor may suggest it for others, especially people with a close relative who had an aneurysm.
The plan depends on the aneurysm's size, location, growth and your overall health. Many people with a small aneurysm are watched for years before any repair is considered, and some never need one.
The standard approach for smaller aneurysms that cause no symptoms. Watching on a set schedule is active care. Controlling blood pressure and stopping smoking help protect the aorta.
Your care team recommends repair when an aneurysm grows large, grows quickly or causes symptoms. Repair strengthens the weakened section of the aorta, and a specialist explains which type fits your anatomy.
Endovascular aneurysm repair, called EVAR, repairs an abdominal aneurysm from inside the artery. A doctor guides a thin tube through a small opening near the groin and places a fabric-covered stent graft inside the aorta. The graft routes blood through the weakened section, which lowers pressure on the bulge. Recovery is usually shorter than after open surgery, and the choice depends on your anatomy.
EVAR is offered at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, Baptist Health Princeton Hospital and Baptist Health Shelby Hospital.
You are welcome to a second opinion at any point.
Watching an aneurysm means living with a question between scans. Ask your care team anything, tell them when the wait weighs on you, and keep every imaging appointment. Take blood pressure medicines as prescribed, stay active at the level your team advises, and avoid tobacco. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to any patient or family who would like them.
Keep every imaging appointment and bring your blood pressure readings and medicine list to each visit. Report any new belly, back or chest discomfort right away, as the lists above say, and tell your team before you start heavy lifting or a new kind of exercise, and before you stop any medicine.
No. Small aneurysms are usually monitored with scans. Repair is considered when size, growth or symptoms call for it, and you make that decision with your care team.
If you are a man aged 65 to 75 who has ever smoked, or you have a close relative with an aneurysm, ask your doctor about a screening ultrasound. Feeling well does not rule out an aneurysm.
Light to moderate activity is often fine. Heavy lifting and straining may be limited depending on size. Ask your care team before you set your routine.
A dissection is a tear in the inner layer of the aortic wall. It can happen with or without an aneurysm and needs emergency care. Sudden tearing pain in the chest or back is the classic sign, so call 911.
It shares causes with heart disease, including smoking, high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, so your team may also review your heart health. Learn more about coronary artery disease.
Vascular specialists watch an aneurysm with scans and repair it when it grows or causes symptoms.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareAn abdominal ultrasound or CT scan finds an aneurysm and measures its size over time.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingPrimary care can order a one-time aneurysm screening for people at higher risk.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseasePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes...
Learn More About Carotid artery diseaseDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsOur practices diagnose and treat artery and vein conditions, from screening to procedures.
Find a CardiologistCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes no symptoms, and it is found with a painless ultrasound. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers monitoring, stenting and surgery across Alabama.
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The two carotid arteries run up each side of your neck and bring blood to your brain. In carotid artery disease, plaque (a fatty buildup) slowly narrows one or both of them. Most people who learn they have it feel well. It is often found during a check for something else, or after a warning sign.
The reason to care about it is stroke. A narrowed carotid artery can lead to a stroke over time, and the point of treating it is to lower that risk before anything happens. A diagnosis marks the start of a plan to protect your brain, and many people live for years with a narrowing that is watched and managed.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, evaluates and treats carotid artery disease at its Alabama practices and hospitals, with both stenting and open surgery available. Here is what the condition is, how it is found, and how treatment is chosen.
Atherosclerosis is the slow buildup of plaque on the inner wall of an artery. When it forms in the carotid arteries, the channel narrows and the wall stiffens. Blood flow to the brain can drop, and a piece of plaque or a clot that forms at the narrowing can break loose and travel to a smaller artery in the brain. That event causes a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a mini-stroke.
The condition is closely related to coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease, which share its causes. People diagnosed with one are often checked for the others.
Carotid artery disease on its own usually causes no pain and no symptoms. A care provider may hear a whooshing sound called a bruit over the artery with a stethoscope, or a scan done for another reason may show the narrowing.
Symptoms appear when the brain is affected, as a TIA or stroke:
Call 911 or go to the emergency department for any of the BE FAST signs in you or someone with you:
After carotid surgery, also call 911 for neck swelling that is growing, trouble breathing or swallowing, or bleeding from the incision.
Signs that fade on their own can still be a TIA, a warning that a stroke may follow, and a TIA needs a check right away. Call 911 instead of driving yourself. Care begins the moment paramedics arrive. After a TIA, a neurologist leads the evaluation, and the neurology team at Brookwood sets up the next steps.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Carotid artery disease is caused by atherosclerosis: plaque builds up on the inner wall of the carotid arteries over many years. Damage to the artery lining from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or high blood sugar helps the plaque collect and grow.
Managing these risk factors is a central part of care. Routine screening is not recommended for people without symptoms, so ask your primary care doctor or cardiologist whether a scan makes sense for you. Not using tobacco, keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in range, staying active and eating mostly vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean protein lower the risk and slow the disease once it is there.
The degree of narrowing, and whether you have had symptoms, guide how often you are monitored and whether a procedure helps.
The right path depends on how narrow the artery is, whether you have had a warning sign, and your overall health. For many people the answer is careful management without a procedure.
Medicine and risk-factor care are the foundation of nearly every plan: blood pressure and cholesterol control, stopping tobacco, and often a medicine that makes blood less likely to clot. Repeat ultrasound scans show whether the narrowing is stable or changing.
A procedure to reopen the artery is considered when the narrowing is significant or has caused a warning sign. The two procedures are carotid stenting and carotid endarterectomy, and your specialist explains which fits your anatomy and health.
Carotid stenting. Carotid stenting opens a narrowed carotid artery from the inside. A doctor passes a catheter into the artery, widens the narrowing, and places a small mesh tube called a stent to hold it open. A filter or a flow-protection method guards the brain during the procedure.
At Baptist Health, interventional cardiologists J Bradley Cavender, MD and Jan Skowronski, MD perform carotid stenting with the Cardiovascular Associates team.
Carotid endarterectomy. Carotid endarterectomy is an operation in which a surgeon opens the carotid artery in the neck and removes the plaque directly. It is offered at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, Baptist Health Shelby Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. Your cardiologist coordinates the referral.
This is a decision you make together with your specialist, and a second opinion is always welcome.
Take your medicines every day, keep your blood pressure and cholesterol in the range your team sets, and stay tobacco-free. Keep every follow-up scan. Know the BE FAST signs and make sure the people close to you know them too. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to any patient or family who would like them.
Keep every follow-up scan and bring your blood pressure readings and medicine list to each visit. Tell your team about side effects and before you stop any medicine. A warning sign that came and went is a TIA: call 911 the moment it happens, even if you feel fine now, and make sure your care team knows about it afterward.
A TIA is a brief episode of stroke-like symptoms caused by a temporary drop in blood flow to the brain. It usually clears within minutes to hours, yet it is a serious warning. Call 911 and get checked right away.
Yes. It is one cause of stroke from blocked blood flow. Not everyone with carotid artery disease has a stroke, and finding and monitoring it is how the risk is lowered.
Many people do not. Mild to moderate narrowing with no warning signs is often managed with medicine and regular ultrasound. A procedure is considered when the narrowing is significant or has caused symptoms.
It can affect one or both arteries, and the degree can differ. Your scan checks both sides.
A bruit is a whooshing sound a provider hears over the neck, caused by blood moving through a narrowed spot. It suggests narrowing, and an ultrasound confirms it.
Vascular specialists follow a narrowed neck artery and reopen it with stenting or surgery when needed.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareCarotid narrowing can cause a stroke or TIA, and neurologists care for both.
Learn More About NeuroscienceA carotid ultrasound shows how narrow the neck arteries are, with no needles or radiation.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseasePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are...
Learn More About Aortic aneurysmDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye,...
Learn More About Vascular angiographyOur practices diagnose and treat artery and vein conditions, from screening to procedures.
Find a CardiologistDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless ultrasound finds it. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, diagnoses and treats DVT, and three of its hospitals have teams ready for a clot in the lungs.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
A swollen, sore or warm leg is easy to put off. If a clot is the cause, getting checked quickly is the step that makes the difference. Deep vein thrombosis, called DVT, is a blood clot that forms in a deep vein, most often in the calf, thigh or pelvis. It is common, it is treatable, and the test that finds it is quick and painless, often done the same day.
Clinicians act promptly on DVT because of one risk: a piece of the clot can break loose and travel to the lungs, which is called a pulmonary embolism (PE). Treatment is built to prevent that.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, evaluates and treats DVT through its Alabama heart and vascular practices, and Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby hospitals have pulmonary embolism response teams. This page covers the signs, the tests, treatment, and what happens when a clot reaches the lungs.
Veins bring blood back to your heart. The deep veins, the larger ones that run through the muscle of your leg, do most of that work. A clot in one of them slows the return of blood and can break free.
DVT belongs to a wider group called venous disease. Chronic venous insufficiency happens when valves inside the leg veins weaken and blood pools. Post-thrombotic syndrome is the lasting leg swelling and aching that can follow a past DVT. Varicose veins are enlarged surface veins. These are different from a deep clot and are treated differently. If your concern is achy, swollen or visible veins, read about varicose veins.
When DVT causes symptoms, they usually affect one leg:
A clot can also cause no symptoms, and the first sign is sometimes a pulmonary embolism. Any unexplained leg swelling deserves a check, most of all after surgery, a long trip or another risk factor.
If you know you have a DVT and any of these start, call 911 and do not drive yourself.
If your doctor cannot see you the same day, go to urgent care or the emergency room.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
A clot forms in a deep vein when blood flows slowly, when the vein's lining is injured, or when the blood clots more easily than usual. Staying still for a long time, surgery or injury, and some medicines and medical conditions can each bring on one or more of these.
DVT can happen to anyone. The chance rises with:
Talk with your care team about your own risk before surgery or a long trip. Walk regularly and stretch your legs on long trips, drink water, and ask your doctor about travel plans if you have had a clot.
After a DVT, your team may look for causes, such as a clotting disorder, depending on your history.
The plan depends on where the clot is, how large it is, whether it has reached the lungs, and your bleeding risk.
The main treatment for most DVT. They stop the clot from growing and lower the chance of new clots, with monitoring over time. Anticoagulation and INR monitoring are offered at Baptist Health's Sylacauga and Cardiovascular Associates main offices. See anticoagulation therapy and monitoring.
For larger or more serious clots, a thin catheter delivers clot-dissolving medicine directly to the clot. Baptist Health's interventional cardiology team provides this for DVT and PE, and your specialist tells you whether it fits you.
When a clot may be in the lungs, speed and a coordinated team matter. Pulmonary embolism response teams (PERT) at Brookwood, Princeton and Shelby hospitals review each suspected case and decide together whether thrombectomy, a procedure that removes the clot, or medical treatment is the right path for that patient. The team matches the treatment to you.
Hematologists, doctors who specialize in blood conditions, cover complex clotting cases at all Baptist Health facilities. Regular visits lower the chance of another clot and watch for post-thrombotic changes.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Take blood thinners exactly as prescribed and keep your monitoring visits. Report new swelling, pain or breathlessness quickly. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to any patient or family who would like them.
Bring your medicine list to each visit, including over-the-counter pain relievers and supplements, since some change how blood thinners work. Tell your team before any surgery, dental work or long trip and before you stop a blood thinner, and call the same day if your leg swelling or aching gets worse or a new leg swells.
A leg clot needs evaluation the same day, because of the risk to the lungs. If you also have shortness of breath, chest pain or a racing heart, call 911.
A PE happens when part of a clot, usually from a leg vein, travels to the lungs and blocks an artery. It ranges from mild to life-threatening, and it is the reason DVT is treated promptly.
Long flights raise clot risk, and the right precautions depend on your history. Talk with your care team before you book.
Varicose veins are enlarged surface veins, usually a matter of how the legs look and feel. DVT is a clot in a deep vein. A clot in a surface vein is a lower-risk matter than a deep clot.
It is long-term swelling, aching, heaviness or skin change in a leg after a DVT, when the damaged vein does not fully recover. Your team can suggest monitoring and care.
Vascular specialists confirm a deep vein clot and treat it with blood thinners or a catheter procedure.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareWhen a clot travels to the lungs, lung and critical care specialists help treat the pulmonary embolism.
Learn More About Pulmonary and Critical CareSudden breathlessness or chest pain with a leg clot is an emergency that starts in the ER.
Learn More About Emergency and Trauma CareCancer and its treatment raise clot risk, so cancer teams watch for DVT and help prevent it.
Learn More About CancerVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsPeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are...
Learn More About Aortic aneurysmCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes...
Learn More About Carotid artery diseaseA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringOur practices diagnose and treat artery and vein conditions, from screening to procedures.
Find a CardiologistVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can ache, swell and itch, and they respond to minimally invasive care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats them at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Legs that feel heavy by the end of the day, veins that bulge and twist under the skin, an ankle that swells in the evening: these are common, and many people live with them for years before asking about them. Varicose veins and the vein weakness behind them can be treated, often without surgery and with a short recovery.
Varicose veins are enlarged veins close to the skin's surface. They form when the small valves inside a vein stop closing properly, so blood pools instead of flowing steadily back toward the heart. Some vein problems are mainly a matter of appearance. Others cause pain, skin damage or ulcers, which is why a check is worthwhile.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats varicose veins and other vein conditions at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover, and at Heart South Cardiovascular Group. Here is how vein disease develops, how it is diagnosed, and the treatments available.
Veins return blood from your legs to your heart, working against gravity. Small one-way valves inside each vein open to let blood up and close to keep it from falling back. When those valves weaken, blood gathers in the vein, and the vein stretches, bulges and twists. Doctors call this vein disease or venous disease.
Spider veins are the thinner, web-like cousins of varicose veins. They seldom cause discomfort, and a physician should look at them if they become painful.
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is the longer-term form of vein disease. Varicose veins left untreated can progress to CVI, in which poor drainage from the legs causes ongoing swelling, aching and heaviness, darkening or hardening of the skin around the ankles, and in advanced cases open sores called venous stasis ulcers on the lower calf and ankle.
Symptoms often grow worse when you stand or stay seated in one position for a long time.
See a doctor when veins ache or swell, when skin changes appear, or when you have a sore on the leg or ankle. These signs mean the vein disease is advancing, and earlier treatment can slow that.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Varicose veins form when the small one-way valves inside a leg vein weaken and stop closing fully. Blood then flows backward and pools, and the extra pressure stretches the vein wall until it bulges and twists.
These raise the chance of weakened vein valves:
You cannot change some of these, and you can influence others with movement, healthy weight and leg elevation. Walking most days, changing position through the day, reaching a healthy weight and raising your legs when you rest help blood move up the leg and can slow new varicose veins from forming.
Your care team asks about your symptoms, examines your legs, and uses a duplex ultrasound to see the veins. The scan is painless. It shows the vein's structure, which valves are leaking, and which way blood is flowing. See Doppler ultrasound. The Vein Center also performs venous flow studies to map how blood moves through your leg veins and to choose the treatment that fits.
Treatment depends on which veins are leaking and how much they bother you. The Vein Center offers the full range of vein procedures, using minimally invasive techniques that reduce pain and speed recovery.
Compression stockings, walking, leg elevation and avoiding long stretches in one position. CVI is treated by repairing or closing the leaking veins and by supportive care such as compression stockings and leg elevation. Early diagnosis and treatment can stop the progression, which is a strong reason to seek care when symptoms first appear.
Your provider explains which treatment fits your veins.
Move often. Walk, change position through the day, and raise your legs when you rest. Compression stockings help many people. Keep your follow-up visits, and report new skin changes or sores promptly. Care for your skin and protect your legs from injury. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to any patient or family who would like them.
Tell your team when leg aching, swelling or heaviness gets in the way of your day, when the skin near your ankle changes color or texture, or when a sore is slow to heal. After a vein procedure, keep every follow-up visit and any scan your team schedules.
Some cause only cosmetic concerns, while others lead to pain, skin damage, ulcers or blood clots. A check tells you which applies to you.
They tend to continue and can progress. Treatment closes or removes the diseased veins, and walking and compression ease the symptoms.
The procedures are minimally invasive, designed to ease pain and speed recovery. Your provider explains what to expect for the treatment you need.
Spider veins are small and thin, close to the skin, and rarely uncomfortable. Varicose veins are larger, raised and twisted, and they may ache or swell.
Request an appointment online or call the Vein Center at (205) 949-9289. The online form sends a request and does not confirm an appointment. A representative contacts you within two business days.
Vein specialists close or remove leaking veins to ease aching, swelling and skin changes.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CarePregnancy can bring on or worsen varicose veins, and many ease in the months after birth.
Learn More About Women's CareDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisPeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are...
Learn More About Aortic aneurysmCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes...
Learn More About Carotid artery diseaseA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter...
Learn More About Endovenous ablationSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the...
Learn More About Sclerotherapy for varicose veinsPhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of...
Learn More About PhlebectomyOur practices diagnose and treat artery and vein conditions, from screening to procedures.
Find a CardiologistThe tests, procedures and therapies our heart and vascular teams provide, from monitoring and medicines to valve repair and replacement. Each page explains what happens, how to prepare and what recovery looks like.
Anticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin), regular blood checks guide your dose. Heart South's Coumadin clinic watches your results closely and adjusts your medicine when needed, so you stay in a safe range.
Learn MoreAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are found by scan, then watched over time. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers screening, monitoring and repair across Alabama.
Learn MoreAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body. It relieves breathlessness, chest pressure and fainting caused by a narrowed or leaking valve.
Learn MoreAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern. It is manageable, and Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it with heart rhythm specialists, testing, procedures and follow-up across Alabama.
Learn MoreCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the tiny area sending faulty signals, and energy treats it. It can lessen or end palpitations and other symptoms of an arrhythmia.
Learn MoreCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how well your arteries and heart are working, and it can find a blockage. Many people go home the same day.
Learn MoreA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a stent, heart surgery or a heart failure diagnosis. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers cardiac rehabilitation at Princeton, Shelby and Calhoun hospitals. Most programs run 36 sessions.
Learn MoreCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given medicine to sleep, a timed electrical shock restores a regular beat, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes no symptoms, and it is found with a painless ultrasound. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers monitoring, stenting and surgery across Alabama.
Learn MoreCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it open. It treats chest pain from coronary artery disease and restores blood flow during a heart attack.
Learn MoreCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked heart artery. It is a major operation that relieves chest pain and helps blood reach your heart muscle again.
Learn MoreCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every day, and most people manage it for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, cares for it across its Alabama practices and hospitals.
Learn MoreA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no needles and no fasting, and the scan itself takes about five minutes. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers it through Heart South, and your score helps your doctor judge your risk.
Learn MoreDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless ultrasound finds it. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, diagnoses and treats DVT, and three of its hospitals have teams ready for a clot in the lungs.
Learn MoreA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It involves no needles, no dye and no radiation, and it helps your care team find a blockage, a clot or a leaking vein.
Learn MoreA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how well it pumps and how its four valves open and close. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers echocardiograms at its hospitals and at heart practice offices across Alabama.
Learn MoreEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter in the vein and heats its wall, and blood reroutes through healthy veins. The procedure takes place in the office, and most people walk out afterward and return to daily life within days.
Learn MoreA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds when it works harder. It helps your doctor find heart disease, rhythm problems and damage. If you cannot exercise, medicine can give your heart the same stress.
Learn MoreA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many are manageable. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers rhythm testing, ablation and devices through heart rhythm specialists in Alabama.
Learn MoreA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, provides emergency heart care, then follow-up and rehabilitation close to home across Alabama.
Learn MoreHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, manages it through its cardiologists across Alabama, with testing, medicine and follow-up close to home.
Learn MoreHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are monitored for years. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers valve testing, a Valve Clinic, catheter-based valve procedures and valve surgery in Alabama.
Learn MoreA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It helps your doctor find rhythm problems that come and go, such as skipped beats, a racing heart or pauses. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers heart rhythm monitoring in its Alabama heart practices and hospitals.
Learn MoreAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm for months or years, so your doctor can find out why you faint, feel palpitations, or have had a stroke with no clear cause.
Learn MoreAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm around the clock and treats a dangerously fast rhythm, with pacing or a shock, to protect you from sudden cardiac arrest.
Learn MoreLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke risk. It is a one-time catheter procedure for people who cannot stay on blood thinners for life.
Learn MoreMitral valve surgery repairs a leaking or narrowed valve between the upper and lower left chambers of your heart, or replaces it when repair is not possible. Your surgeon chooses the best option for your valve and your health.
Learn MoreA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive tracer to show how well blood reaches your heart muscle. Stress comes from treadmill exercise or from medicine. Plan on three to four hours at Heart South's office.
Learn MoreA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses, and sends a small electrical signal that keeps your heart beating at a regular rate.
Learn MoreAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny balloon. It can ease leg pain when walking and helps blood reach tissue that needs it. Most people go home the same day.
Learn MorePeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than they need. It is common, it can be found with a painless test, and it responds to care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats it across Alabama.
Learn MorePhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of pain, and the procedure treats bulging surface veins that cause aching, heaviness and swelling. Many people go home the same day and walk right away.
Learn MoreSpecialists at three Baptist Health hospitals who decide together how to treat a blood clot in the lungs.
Learn MoreSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the vein shrinks, and blood moves through healthier veins. Visits are short, and some people need a series of treatments to reach the result they want.
Learn MoreA team that repairs heart valves and closes the heart's appendage through a small tube, often instead of open-heart surgery.
Learn MoreTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery, without opening your chest. It treats severe aortic stenosis, and a team of heart doctors decides together whether it is right for you.
Learn MoreTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without opening the chest. It can ease breathlessness and tiredness for people whose valve leaks and who are weighing surgery.
Learn MoreVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can ache, swell and itch, and they respond to minimally invasive care. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats them at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover.
Learn MoreVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye, takes images as it flows through your arteries or veins, and can see narrowings, blockages and other changes in your legs, neck, belly or arms.
Learn MoreNo pages match. Clear a filter or try another word.
Cardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how well your arteries and heart are working, and it can find a blockage. Many people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your doctor may have told you that you need a "cath" or a "heart cath." Cardiac catheterization is one of the most common heart procedures. It lets your cardiologist look directly at the arteries that feed your heart and measure how your heart is working, so the next step in your care is based on what they see.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, performs cardiac catheterization at hospitals across its Alabama communities. Your care team explains each step before it happens and answers every question you have.
A cath is often planned ahead, after a stress test, an echocardiogram or your symptoms point to a problem your cardiologist needs to see directly, and it is also done urgently during a heart attack. You will know before the day whether a stent might be placed during the same visit. This page covers why it is ordered, how to get ready, what happens during the test, its risks, and how to understand your results.
A catheter is a long, thin, flexible tube. In cardiac catheterization, a cardiologist guides one through a small opening in a blood vessel, usually in your wrist or your groin, up to your heart. X-ray video shows the catheter and your blood vessels as it moves. Through the catheter, your doctor can:
Both wrist (radial) and groin (femoral) access are available at Baptist Health. Your cardiologist chooses the one that is best for you.
A cath gives your cardiologist the clearest view of the coronary arteries and the pressures inside the heart, so a decision about treatment rests on what is actually there.
Your cardiologist may recommend a cath when:
A cath can show a blockage that other tests only suggest. When your doctor finds one, you can talk through the choices: medicine, angioplasty and a stent, or bypass surgery.
Your care team gives you written instructions for your own procedure. Most people are asked to:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown and a nurse starts an IV. You are awake, because that lets your cardiologist talk with you, and you receive medicine through the IV to help you relax. The skin where the catheter goes in is numbed.
Your cardiologist guides the catheter to your heart, watching the X-ray screen. When the dye goes in, many people feel a warm flush for a few seconds. The pictures are taken, the measurements are made, and the catheter comes out. A diagnostic cath usually takes about 30 to 60 minutes. If your doctor opens a blocked artery in the same visit, it takes longer.
After the catheter comes out, a nurse or technician presses on the spot, or places a wrist band or closure device, to stop bleeding. You rest in a recovery area. Wrist access usually allows a shorter rest than groin access, where you lie flat for a few hours. Most people go home after about six hours.
At home, rest and avoid heavy lifting and hard exercise for a day or two, or as long as your team says.
A cath is a very common procedure and serious problems are uncommon. Possible risks include:
Your cardiologist talks with you about the risks that apply to you before you sign a consent form.
Results come quickly. Your cardiologist can usually describe what they saw while you are in recovery. The pictures show whether any artery is narrowed and by how much, and the pressure and oxygen readings show how the chambers and valves are working. Your cardiologist then explains your options and plans your next visit. If you received a stent or had other treatment, you get separate instructions.
No. There is no cut in your chest. The catheter goes through a small puncture in your wrist or groin.
Most people feel pressure when the catheter goes in and little else. The area is numbed, and the medicine helps you relax. Tell your team if you feel discomfort.
Most people with a diagnostic cath go home the same day. If you have a stent placed, you may stay overnight.
Call your cardiologist if the puncture site bleeds, swells, or looks red; if your leg or hand feels cold, numb, or changes color; or if you have a fever. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, or bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure.
Yes, usually. You receive medicine through an IV to help you relax, and the skin where the catheter goes in is numbed, so most people feel pressure but little pain. Being awake lets your cardiologist talk with you during the test.
Cardiac catheterization is done in a hospital cath lab. Baptist Health cardiologists perform it at these hospitals:
Angioplasty and stents are available at Brookwood, Princeton, Shelby, and Calhoun. If your cath is at Walker, your team arranges the next step with you.
You see your cardiologist in an office before and after the procedure:
Each practice schedules its own appointments.
Cardiologists perform the cath to see the heart arteries and measure pressures, often treating a blockage too.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareDuring a heart attack, a cath is done urgently to find and open the blocked artery.
Learn More About Emergency and Trauma CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive...
Learn More About Nuclear stress testA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
Your doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it open. It treats chest pain from coronary artery disease and restores blood flow during a heart attack.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your cardiologist found a blockage in an artery that feeds your heart, you may hear the words angioplasty and stent in the same breath. They describe one procedure, also called percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI. It opens the artery from the inside, through a small puncture in your wrist or groin, with no cut in your chest.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, performs angioplasty and stenting at four hospitals in Alabama, for planned procedures and for heart attacks. This page explains what to expect, so you walk in knowing the steps.
A planned angioplasty usually follows a heart catheterization that shows where the blockage is, and sometimes the stent is placed during that same visit. You will know the plan before you go in. This page covers why your cardiologist may recommend it, how to get ready, what the day and the weeks after look like, and the risks to weigh.
Over time, plaque, a build-up of fat and cholesterol, can narrow a coronary artery. This is coronary artery disease. Angioplasty pushes the plaque against the artery wall so blood flows more freely. A cardiologist guides a thin tube with a deflated balloon at its tip to the blockage, then inflates the balloon.
In most cases the cardiologist leaves a stent in place. A stent is a small, expandable mesh tube that holds the artery open. Most stents today are drug-eluting, which means they are coated with medicine that is released slowly to help the artery stay open. Within about a month, the lining of your artery grows over the stent. A stent is permanent.
For blockages packed with hard calcium, cardiologists can use a rotating tip to clear the way first, called rotational atherectomy. Pictures from inside the artery (IVUS and OCT) and a pressure measurement (FFR) can show exactly where a stent is needed. These tools are available at Baptist Health.
Angioplasty and a stent restore blood flow through a narrowed coronary artery. In a planned procedure the aim is to ease chest pain and breathlessness so you can do more; during a heart attack the aim is to open the artery fast and save heart muscle.
Your cardiologist may recommend angioplasty and a stent when:
Angioplasty is not the right choice for everyone. If you have several severe blockages, or diabetes along with blockages in more than one artery, bypass surgery may serve you better. Your cardiologist reviews your pictures and your health and talks through the choices with you.
For a planned procedure, your team gives you written instructions. You will usually stop eating and drinking for several hours beforehand, and you will be told which medicines to take. You may start a blood thinner before the procedure. Tell your team about allergies to contrast dye and about kidney problems. Arrange a ride home. Most people stay overnight, so bring a few personal items.
For a heart attack, there is no time to prepare. The team moves quickly and explains what they are doing as they go, and they talk with your family.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You lie on a table in the cath lab, awake, with medicine through an IV to help you relax. The skin at the puncture site is numbed. The cardiologist threads a catheter to your heart, injects dye to see the blockage, and guides the balloon into place. You may feel pressure, or brief chest discomfort when the balloon inflates. Tell your team if you do. After the stent is in place, new pictures confirm that blood flows freely. The procedure usually takes one to two hours.
Most people walk the same day, and many go home the next morning. Nurses check the puncture site and your heart rhythm, and you lie flat or keep your wrist still for a few hours so the site can seal.
Most return to normal activity within about a week, and your team tells you when to lift, drive, and go back to work. You will take two blood-thinning medicines, usually aspirin plus a second medicine, often for six to twelve months. Do not stop either without talking to your cardiologist first, even if you feel well.
Your cardiologist follows you afterward. Cardiac rehabilitation helps you build strength with a team beside you, and your doctor can refer you. Metal detectors and most household equipment do not affect a stent.
Angioplasty is common and generally safe. Possible risks include bleeding or bruising at the puncture site, a reaction to dye, kidney strain, an irregular heartbeat, and the artery narrowing again over time. Rarely, a blood clot forms in the stent, which can cause a heart attack, and this is why taking your blood thinner exactly as prescribed matters. Other rare risks are stroke, damage to an artery, the need for emergency bypass surgery, and death. Your cardiologist reviews the risks that apply to you before you consent.
No. Angioplasty opens the artery from the inside through a catheter. Bypass surgery is an operation on your chest that creates a new path for blood around a blockage.
A stent is permanent. The artery can narrow again, and drug-coated stents lower that chance. Healthy habits and your medicines protect the artery over the years.
A stent opens one narrowed spot. The disease that caused it continues to need care: your medicines, staying tobacco free, and a heart-healthy way of eating and moving.
Yes. Baptist Health hospitals that perform emergency angioplasty meet the national benchmark for how fast the blocked artery is opened.
Usually yes, with medicine through an IV that helps you relax, and the puncture site is numbed. Many people feel pressure but little pain, and you can tell the team at any time how you feel.
Angioplasty and stenting are performed at these hospitals, for planned procedures and for heart attacks:
Baptist Health Walker Hospital performs diagnostic cardiac catheterization.
Your cardiologist comes from Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Heart South Cardiovascular Group, or Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston, and each practice schedules its own visits.
Interventional cardiologists open a narrowed heart artery with a balloon and hold it open with a stent.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareFor a heart attack, emergency teams move patients straight to the cath lab for angioplasty.
Learn More About Emergency and Trauma CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
A first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked heart artery. It is a major operation that relieves chest pain and helps blood reach your heart muscle again.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your cardiologist has said you may need bypass surgery, you probably have a lot of questions and some worry. Both are normal. Coronary artery bypass grafting, often called CABG (said like "cabbage"), is one of the most common and most studied heart operations. Your team plans it with you, and your family is welcome in the conversation.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, performs bypass surgery at Brookwood and Princeton hospitals. Your cardiologist and your surgeon work together before the operation, and your cardiologist follows you afterward.
Bypass surgery is planned over several visits, unless it is needed urgently after a heart attack. You will meet your surgeon, go over your heart pictures together, and talk through why bypass fits your arteries better than a stent. This page covers why your heart team may recommend it, how to get ready, what the hospital stay and the weeks at home look like, and the risks to weigh.
Coronary artery disease narrows the arteries that feed your heart muscle. In bypass surgery, a surgeon takes a healthy blood vessel from your chest wall, your leg, or your arm and attaches it above and below the blockage. Blood then travels through this new route, called a graft, around the narrowed spot. One operation can bypass one blockage or several.
Most bypass operations use a heart-lung machine, which takes over the work of your heart and lungs while the surgeon sews the grafts onto a heart that is still. Some operations are done on a beating heart without the machine, which is called off-pump bypass. Baptist Health offers both. Your surgeon recommends the approach that suits your heart and your health.
Bypass surgery builds a new route for blood around blocked coronary arteries, using a healthy blood vessel from your chest, arm or leg. It eases chest pain and breathlessness, and for some people with severe disease it helps the heart work better over the long term.
Your heart team may recommend bypass surgery when:
Bypass and stents are two ways to restore blood flow, and the right one depends on your arteries and your overall health. A cardiac catheterization shows your surgeon and cardiologist what they need to see to make this decision with you.
You will have blood tests, a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram, and often an echocardiogram. Your team will tell you which medicines to take or stop, especially blood thinners, and when to stop eating and drinking. If you smoke, stopping before surgery helps your lungs and your healing, and your team can help. Plan help at home for the first weeks, and ask a family member to learn the plan with you. Chaplains are available at Baptist Health hospitals for you and your family if you would like to talk or pray.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive general anesthesia and sleep through the operation. The surgeon opens your chest through the breastbone, takes the graft vessels, and attaches them to your coronary arteries. Surgery usually takes three to six hours. Your family waits in a surgical waiting area, and a member of the team updates them.
You wake in the cardiac intensive care unit with a breathing tube, which is usually removed within hours. You also have tubes that drain fluid from around your heart, and nurses watch you closely. You stay in the hospital for several days.
Full recovery takes about four to twelve weeks, depending on your health and your operation. You will have chest soreness and tiredness, and walking a little farther each day helps. Your breastbone needs about six to eight weeks to heal, so you will avoid heavy lifting, pushing, and pulling, and your team shows you how to protect your chest when you cough or get up from a chair. Most people can drive after four to six weeks, and return to desk work in about the same time. Jobs that need heavy lifting may take two to three months. Your surgeon sets your timeline.
Cardiac rehabilitation is an important part of recovery. At Baptist Health, the program at Shelby and Princeton is 36 sessions, and it typically starts about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you. Calhoun's program, in Anniston, runs in three phases and begins while you are still in the hospital.
Bypass surgery is a major operation, and your surgeon discusses your own risks with you. They include bleeding, infection in the chest incision, an irregular heartbeat such as atrial fibrillation (common and usually temporary), kidney problems, stroke, a heart attack, short-term trouble with memory or focus, and death. Grafts can narrow over time, which is why medicine and healthy habits matter after surgery.
A graft from the chest wall often lasts 20 years or more, and a graft from the leg commonly lasts 10 to 15 years. Your surgeon chooses grafts for your situation. Taking your medicines, staying tobacco free, and keeping regular visits help protect them.
The surgeon works on a beating heart without the heart-lung machine. It suits some patients. Ask your surgeon whether it is an option for you.
Many people have less chest pain and more energy once blood reaches their heart muscle again, often within weeks. Surgery treats the blockage, and your medicines and habits protect the rest of your arteries.
Call your surgeon's office for fever, redness or drainage from the incision, a clicking or shifting breastbone, or swelling in a leg. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, or fainting.
Yes. If grafts narrow years later, a repeat operation is possible, though it carries more risk than the first, and many people are treated instead with a stent placed in the graft or a native artery. Your heart team weighs the options with you.
Bypass surgery is performed at:
The cardiothoracic surgery office is at 2018 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, Medical Building C, Suite 215, Birmingham, AL 35209.
Your cardiologist refers you and follows your care before and after. Start with Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Heart South Cardiovascular Group, or Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston, each of which schedules its own appointments.
Cardiac surgeons and cardiologists decide together when bypass surgery is the better choice than a stent.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareDiabetes with blockages in several arteries is one common reason bypass is recommended.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
A first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the tiny area sending faulty signals, and energy treats it. It can lessen or end palpitations and other symptoms of an arrhythmia.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your heart races, flutters, or skips, and medicine has not controlled it, your cardiologist may suggest an ablation. It is a treatment for the heart's electrical system, and for many people it ends or lessens the symptoms. Many rhythm problems, such as supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter, and atrial fibrillation, can be treated this way.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, has electrophysiologists, heart doctors who specialize in rhythm, who perform ablation in hospital electrophysiology labs in Alabama. They explain what they find and what they plan, and they follow you afterward.
An ablation is planned well ahead of time. You meet your electrophysiologist first, go over your rhythm tests together, and talk through what the procedure can do for your type of arrhythmia. This page covers why your doctor may recommend it, how to get ready, what the day and the weeks after look like, and the risks to weigh.
Your heartbeat is set by electrical signals that travel along set paths. In an arrhythmia, a small area of heart tissue sends extra or misdirected signals. In catheter ablation, an electrophysiologist guides thin, flexible tubes called catheters through a vein, usually in the groin, into the heart. The doctor first studies your heart's signals, in what is called an electrophysiology (EP) study, to find where the problem starts. A 3D mapping system builds a picture of the electrical pattern.
Then the doctor uses energy through the catheter to treat that small spot so it stops sending faulty signals. Baptist Health's electrophysiologists use heat (radiofrequency), cold (cryoablation), and pulsed field ablation, which uses short bursts of electrical energy. They choose among them for your type of arrhythmia.
The goal is to cure or lessen the arrhythmia, prevent its complications, and improve your quality of life. Your doctor reviews your tests, such as an EKG, an echocardiogram, and a Holter monitor, before recommending it.
Your doctor may recommend ablation when:
Your team gives you written instructions. In general:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Ablation happens in an electrophysiology lab with a team of doctors, nurses, and technologists. You receive sedation or general anesthesia, depending on your procedure, so you are relaxed or asleep. The doctor numbs the groin, places the catheters, maps your heart's signals, and treats the problem area. Time varies with your arrhythmia, from about two hours to six.
Afterward you rest flat for a few hours while the entry spot heals. Most people stay overnight, and some go home the same day.
Most people feel tired for a few days and return to normal activity within one to two weeks. You will avoid heavy lifting for a short time, as your doctor directs. In the first weeks, you may notice skipped or fast beats as the heart heals, and that does not always mean the ablation failed. Tell your team about them. Your electrophysiologist schedules a follow-up visit to see how your rhythm is doing and whether you need more treatment.
Call 911 for chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, fainting, signs of a stroke such as face drooping, arm weakness or trouble speaking, bleeding where the catheters went in that does not stop after ten minutes of firm pressure, a lump there that is growing fast, or a leg that turns cold, pale or numb. Call your care team the same day for a small amount of oozing or bruising that is not growing, redness or drainage at the site, a fever, or a fast or irregular heartbeat that does not settle.
Ablation is a common, well-studied procedure, and serious problems are uncommon. Possible risks include bleeding or bruising where the catheters went in; fluid around the heart; a blood clot or stroke; damage to a blood vessel or to a nearby structure such as the esophagus after AFib ablation; a slow heartbeat that needs a pacemaker; and an arrhythmia that returns. Your doctor explains the risks for your type of ablation and for your health.
It lessens or ends episodes in many people, and some stop taking rhythm medicine. AFib can come back, particularly when it has lasted a long time, and some people need a second procedure. Your electrophysiologist talks with you about what to expect for your type of AFib.
Usually yes, for at least a couple of months while the heart heals, and then your doctor decides based on your stroke risk, whatever your symptoms. Do not stop it without asking. If you cannot take a blood thinner long term, ask about left atrial appendage closure.
Cardioversion uses a shock to reset the rhythm once. Ablation treats the source of the rhythm problem so it is less likely to return.
You are sedated or asleep. Afterward you may have some soreness at the groin and, after some AFib ablations, mild chest discomfort for a few days. Tell your team if pain is worse than you expected.
Most people stay one night so the team can watch the heart rhythm and the entry site, and some go home the same day. Your electrophysiologist tells you which to plan for, based on your type of ablation and your health.
Ablation is performed in hospital electrophysiology labs at:
Before and after the procedure, you see your electrophysiologist in the practice's office:
Each practice schedules its own appointments. Chaplains are available at our hospitals for you and your family, if that would help.
Electrophysiologists perform ablation to stop the faulty signals that cause a rhythm problem.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareTreating sleep apnea before and after ablation helps a regular rhythm hold.
Learn More About Sleep MedicineAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)A painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke...
Learn More About Left atrial appendage closureCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placementWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
A first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses, and sends a small electrical signal that keeps your heart beating at a regular rate.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your heart beats too slowly, or pauses, you may feel tired, dizzy, short of breath, or faint. A pacemaker treats that cause directly. Implanting one is a common procedure, usually done in about one to two hours, and many people notice more energy in the days and weeks after.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, implants pacemakers in Alabama hospital electrophysiology labs and follows each device for years in its practice offices. This page explains how a pacemaker works and what to expect.
A pacemaker is usually planned after tests have shown that a slow or paused heartbeat explains your symptoms. You will meet the doctor who will implant it, go over those tests together and talk through the type of device that fits you. This page also covers why your doctor may recommend one, how to get ready, what the implant day and the weeks after look like, the risks to weigh, and how the device is checked for years afterward.
A pacemaker has two main parts. The generator is a small metal case, about the size of a large coin, that holds a battery and a tiny computer. The leads are thin wires that run from the generator through a vein to your heart. The device watches your heartbeat. When your heart beats too slowly or skips, it sends a small electrical pulse that you do not feel. When your own heartbeat is fine, it waits and only watches.
There are several types. A single-chamber pacemaker has one lead, and a dual-chamber pacemaker has two. A biventricular device, also called cardiac resynchronization therapy, helps both lower chambers beat together for some people with heart failure. A leadless pacemaker is a small capsule placed directly inside the heart through a vein in the groin, with no wires and no chest pocket. Baptist Health offers leadless pacemakers for people who are good candidates.
If your doctor is also concerned about dangerous fast rhythms, you may need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator instead, which can also pace.
A pacemaker is placed to keep your heart from beating too slowly or pausing, so your body gets the blood it needs and symptoms such as dizziness, fainting and tiredness ease.
Your doctor may recommend a pacemaker if you have:
Tests such as an EKG, a Holter monitor, or an implantable loop recorder help show the cause of your symptoms. Read more about arrhythmias.
Your care team gives you instructions. Expect to stop eating and drinking after a set time, and to be told which medicines to take, especially blood thinners. Wash with the soap they give you if asked. You will receive antibiotics through an IV to lower the chance of infection. Arrange a ride home.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive local anesthesia, so the chest is numb, and medicine to help you relax. The doctor makes a small cut below your collarbone, guides the leads through a vein into your heart using X-ray pictures, and tests that they work well. The generator is placed in a small pocket under the skin and the cut is closed. A leadless device goes in through the groin instead.
Most implants take one to two hours, and most people stay overnight. Recovery is straightforward for most people.
Keep the area clean and dry. For a few weeks, avoid lifting your arm above your shoulder on the side of the device and avoid heavy lifting, so the leads stay in place while they heal. Your doctor tells you when you can drive, often within one to two weeks. A leadless pacemaker has fewer arm limits.
You receive a device identification card for your wallet. Your device is checked after the first weeks and then at regular visits, and it can also be monitored from home. Baptist Health runs remote monitoring through a heart lab at the Cardiovascular Associates main office, so your team can see your data between visits.
Battery life varies with the device and how often it paces, commonly from about 5 to 15 years. When the battery runs low, your doctor sees it at a routine check, and replacing the generator is a shorter procedure than the first.
Pacemaker implantation is common and safe for most people. Possible risks include bleeding or bruising in the pocket, infection, a lead that moves or needs adjusting, a collapsed lung (rare), and damage to the heart or a vessel (rare). A pacemaker also needs a new battery from time to time. Your doctor reviews the risks that apply to you.
Most people do not feel the pulses. You may feel the device under your skin at first.
Yes. Keep your cell phone at least 6 inches from the device and use it on the opposite ear. Household appliances are safe. Show your device card at airport security, and walk through the detector at a normal pace without lingering. Avoid strong magnets and electrical fields, and do not lean over a running car engine. Many newer devices allow MRI under set conditions. Ask your device team before any MRI.
Yes, once you are healed, and exercise often becomes easier because your heart rate responds to what you ask of it. Ask your doctor which activities are right for you.
Call for fever, redness or swelling at the incision, fainting, or a return of the symptoms you had before. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, or fainting that does not pass quickly.
Your device is checked in the weeks after the implant and then at regular visits, and most devices can also send their data from home between visits, so your team sees how the battery and the leads are doing without an extra trip.
Pacemakers are implanted at these hospitals:
Implants are done by electrophysiologists and by a general cardiologist trained in device implantation. Follow-up and device checks happen in the practice offices:
Each practice schedules its own appointments.
Cardiologists place and follow pacemakers for a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareFainting has many causes, and neurologists and cardiologists work together to find a slow heartbeat.
Learn More About NeuroscienceHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placementCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardiac loop recorder placementCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
A first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm around the clock and treats a dangerously fast rhythm, with pacing or a shock, to protect you from sudden cardiac arrest.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your cardiologist has recommended an ICD, you may be wondering what it means for your life, and what it is like to live with a device that can deliver a shock. Many people feel better knowing something is watching their heart at every moment. An ICD does not prevent a dangerous rhythm. It recognizes one in seconds and treats it, and that can save a life.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, implants ICDs in hospital electrophysiology labs in Alabama and follows each device and each person for years. Your team will answer your questions, and your family is welcome to ask theirs.
An ICD is usually planned ahead, after your cardiologist and the doctor who will implant it review your heart's pumping strength and rhythm tests with you. This page covers why your doctor may recommend one, how to get ready, what the implant day and the weeks after look like, the risks to weigh, and what living with the device involves.
An ICD looks like a pacemaker. It is a small case, placed under the skin near the collarbone, that holds a battery and a computer, connected to one or more thin wires called leads that reach your heart. It does what a pacemaker does, and one thing more. If your heart goes into ventricular tachycardia, a dangerously fast rhythm, it often first tries to correct it with a quick series of small pulses, which most people do not feel. If that does not work, or if the rhythm is ventricular fibrillation, it delivers a shock to reset the rhythm.
There are a few types. A standard ICD has leads inside the heart. A device that also helps the lower chambers beat together is called a CRT-D. A subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD) is placed under the skin along the left side of your chest, with a lead that stays outside the heart and veins. Your electrophysiologist helps you choose the type that suits you.
An ICD is placed to protect you from sudden cardiac arrest. It watches every heartbeat and, if a dangerously fast rhythm starts, treats it within seconds with fast pacing or a shock.
Your doctor may recommend an ICD if you:
Some people receive an ICD because they have already had a dangerous rhythm. Others receive one as protection because their heart muscle is weak, even though they have not had one. Your doctor explains which applies to you. An ICD does not treat the underlying condition, so you continue your medicines and care. See also arrhythmias.
Your team gives you instructions. You will stop eating and drinking after a set time, and take or hold certain medicines, especially blood thinners, as directed. You receive antibiotics through an IV to lower the chance of infection. Arrange a ride home and help for the first few days. This is a good time to ask every question you have, including what to do if the device gives you a shock.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive local anesthesia and medicine to help you relax, or in some cases general anesthesia. The doctor makes a small cut below your collarbone, guides the lead or leads into your heart with X-ray pictures, and checks that the device senses and paces correctly. Sometimes the doctor briefly tests the device by starting a fast rhythm while you are asleep. The device goes in a pocket under the skin. An S-ICD goes in through cuts along the chest and under the arm, and the lead does not enter the heart.
Most implants take one to three hours, and most people stay overnight. Keep the area clean and dry.
For a few weeks, avoid raising your arm above your shoulder on the device side and avoid heavy lifting. Your doctor will tell you when you can drive. The timing depends on why you received the ICD, and it may be longer if you had a dangerous rhythm. Most people return to daily activities and to work.
Your device is checked at regular visits and can also be monitored from home, so your team can review your data between visits. An ICD battery usually lasts about five to ten years, and the generator is replaced in a shorter procedure when it runs low.
Some people feel anxious after an ICD, and that is common. Talk with your team about it. Chaplains are available at our hospitals for you and your family if you would like spiritual support.
Risks are similar to a pacemaker: bleeding or bruising in the pocket, infection, a lead that moves, a collapsed lung (rare), and damage to the heart or a vessel (rare). An ICD also has two risks of its own. It can give a shock that was not needed, for example when it mistakes a fast, normal heartbeat for a dangerous one. And a lead can wear or break over the years. Your doctor reviews the risks for you.
Most people describe a sudden hard thump or kick in the chest. It is brief. It can be startling and uncomfortable. Your team reviews what to expect and what to do.
If you feel fine afterward, take a seat and call your cardiologist's office the same day. Call 911 if you get more than one shock in a day, if you have chest pain, trouble breathing, or confusion after a shock, or if you pass out. Ask someone nearby to call.
Yes. Keep a cell phone at least 6 inches from the device and use it on the opposite ear. Show your device card at airport security. Avoid strong magnets and electrical fields, and ask your device team before any MRI.
Most people can. Your doctor tells you which activities are right for you, and cardiac rehabilitation may be an option if you have heart failure.
A pacemaker keeps the heart from beating too slowly. An ICD watches for a dangerously fast rhythm and treats it with fast pacing or a shock, and most ICDs can also pace a slow heartbeat. Your doctor explains which device fits your heart.
ICDs are implanted at these hospitals:
Implants are done by electrophysiologists and by a general cardiologist trained in device implantation. You see your cardiologist and device team in the practice offices:
Each practice schedules its own appointments.
Cardiologists implant and check ICDs that protect against a dangerous fast heart rhythm.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareLiving with an ICD can bring worry, and counseling helps people manage anxiety after a shock.
Learn More About Behavioral HealthHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)A heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardiac loop recorder placementCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
A first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm for months or years, so your doctor can find out why you faint, feel palpitations, or have had a stroke with no clear cause.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Some heart rhythm problems come and go. A short test in the office or a few days with a monitor can miss them. A loop recorder watches your heart all the time, whatever you are doing, and keeps a record. When your doctor needs to know whether a rhythm problem explains your symptoms, it gives them the answer.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers loop recorders through its heart rhythm practices in Alabama. Placement is a short procedure, and the device then works in the background.
Many people with a loop recorder go home the same day and forget it is there within a few weeks of placement, while it keeps watching for the rhythm that explains their symptoms. This page covers why your doctor may recommend one, how to get ready, what placement and the months of monitoring look like, and the risks to weigh before you decide.
An implantable loop recorder (ILR) is a small device placed under the skin of your chest. It is small enough that many people forget it is there. It senses your heart's electrical activity, and when it detects a rhythm outside the limits your doctor has programmed, it records that rhythm automatically. The recordings are stored on the device.
To send them to your care team, you receive a wireless home monitor that pairs with your device. The monitor uses a cellular signal and a power outlet, so you do not need wireless internet or a data plan. Once a day, while the monitor is plugged in and within about six and a half feet of you, it collects your device's data and sends it. If your device recorded an abnormal rhythm, your clinic is notified. If not, the information is updated without a notice.
A loop recorder is placed to catch a heart rhythm that comes and goes, so your doctor can match it to your symptoms and choose the right treatment, or rule a rhythm problem out.
Your doctor may recommend an ILR to:
A Holter monitor records for a day or two, and other monitors you wear on the skin record for weeks. An ILR can record for years, which is why doctors choose it when symptoms are rare. The recording helps your doctor decide whether you need a pacemaker, a medicine, or another treatment. See also arrhythmias.
Little preparation is needed. Your team tells you whether to take your usual medicines, including blood thinners, and whether you can eat beforehand. Wear a top that is easy to remove. Tell your team about allergies to numbing medicine or to adhesive. You may go home right after, so a ride is a good idea.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Placement is a short procedure, often 10 to 20 minutes. You lie back, the skin on the left side of your chest is cleaned and numbed, and the doctor makes a very small cut and slides the device just under the skin. A stitch, glue, or a small adhesive strip closes the cut. You stay awake. Most people feel a pinch from the numbing medicine and some pressure.
Most people go back to normal activity the same day, following any limits your doctor gives. Keep the cut clean and dry until it has healed. A small scar remains.
Your clinic watches for alerts and checks your summary each month. Alerts and monthly checks are handled Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you feel symptoms, such as fainting, call your doctor. Do not wait for the monitor. Call 911 for fainting with chest pain, a fast heartbeat that does not slow, or trouble breathing.
Insurance is billed monthly for monitoring. Most patients pay nothing each month, and some have a monthly copay, depending on the plan. A loop recorder's battery lasts for a few years, and when the answer you needed has been found, or the battery is low, the device is removed in a short visit.
Placement is low risk. Possible risks include soreness, bruising or bleeding at the site, infection, skin irritation, and, rarely, the device moving or pushing through the skin. Some recordings are false alarms, because the device cannot tell every harmless skip from a problem, and your care team reviews each alert. Ask your doctor about MRI, since most newer devices allow it under set conditions.
You may feel it as a small bump under the skin, and most people stop noticing it. It does not shock you or treat your heart. It records.
Yes. Show your device card, and tell the screener you have an implanted device.
Call your doctor and describe what happened, the time, and what you were doing. The device keeps the recording, and your team can look at it on the next transmission.
It depends on your symptoms and the device. Some people have it removed within a year or two after a diagnosis, and others keep it until the battery runs low. Your doctor decides with you.
Once the small cut has healed, yes. Your team tells you when you can shower and when you can swim, and most people return to their usual exercise soon after placement.
Heart South Cardiovascular Group's cardiologists place loop recorders in the hospital and monitor them from the practice's offices in Alabaster, Clanton and Centreville:
Heart South schedules its own appointments through the practice's scheduling link. Ask your cardiologist whether a loop recorder is right for you, and which hospital it would be placed at.
Cardiologists place the recorder and read its data to match symptoms to the heart rhythm.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareAfter a stroke with no clear cause, neurologists often ask for a loop recorder to look for AFib.
Learn More About NeuroscienceAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)Cardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placementWritten with the Baptist Health heart and vascular teams.
A first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given medicine to sleep, a timed electrical shock restores a regular beat, and most people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your heart has been racing, fluttering or skipping, and medicine alone has not brought it back to a regular beat, your cardiologist may suggest cardioversion. It sounds dramatic. In practice it is a short, planned procedure done while you are asleep, and many people leave the same day. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers cardioversion through its heart practices across central Alabama.
The heart keeps its rhythm with small electrical signals. In an arrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation, those signals scramble. Cardioversion gives the heart a reset so the normal signal can take over again. This page explains who it helps, how to get ready, what the day looks like, and what to watch for afterward.
Cardioversion is often one step in a longer plan for your heart rhythm. Your cardiologist will talk with you about how it fits with your medicines, your stroke prevention and any later treatment, so you know what comes next before the day arrives.
Cardioversion is a treatment that changes an abnormal heart rhythm back to a normal one. There are two kinds. Electrical cardioversion uses a carefully timed, mild electrical shock. Medicine-based cardioversion uses heart rhythm drugs, given by mouth or through an IV. The shock is timed to the heartbeat so that it interrupts the abnormal rhythm and lets the heart's own pacemaker take back control.
Most scheduled cardioversions are outpatient procedures. A cardioversion can also be done urgently when a fast rhythm is making someone faint or short of breath. This page is about the scheduled kind.
Cardioversion is used for rhythm problems that have not responded to medicine alone. The most common reason is atrial fibrillation, where the upper chambers of the heart quiver and the pulse turns irregular. It can also treat atrial flutter and some other fast rhythms. See heart arrhythmia for the full range.
You may be a candidate if your rhythm problem causes symptoms such as a racing heart, tiredness, breathlessness or lightheadedness, or if your cardiologist wants to try restoring a regular rhythm. Your cardiologist will look at how long you have been in the abnormal rhythm, your stroke risk and your other medicines before recommending it.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You arrive a few hours before the procedure so the team can check your vital signs, place an IV and review your medicines. Small sticky pads go on your chest and back to monitor the heart and deliver the shock. A medicine through the IV puts you to sleep, so you feel nothing. The shock lasts a fraction of a second, and the team watches the monitor to see whether a regular rhythm returns.
If the rhythm does not hold on the first try, the team may repeat the shock or adjust the energy.
You wake within minutes and are watched closely for an hour or more. Most people go home the same day after the team is satisfied with the rhythm and your blood pressure.
Plan to rest for the day and avoid driving until the next day. Most people return to usual activities within a day or two.
Keep taking your blood thinner after cardioversion, usually for at least four weeks and often longer, based on your stroke risk. Some people also stay on a rhythm medicine afterward. Learn more at anticoagulation therapy and monitoring.
Call 911 if you have signs of a stroke (face drooping, arm weakness, trouble speaking), chest pain, fainting, or severe shortness of breath. Call your cardiologist if your heart starts racing or fluttering again, since the rhythm can return.
The main risks are these.
No. You are asleep for the procedure and do not remember it. Your chest skin may feel tender afterward.
It restores a normal rhythm, and for some people the rhythm stays regular. For others, atrial fibrillation returns, and your cardiologist may suggest medicine or a longer-term treatment such as cardiac catheter ablation.
They use the same kind of equipment. A scheduled cardioversion uses a lower energy shock that is timed to your heartbeat, and you are asleep. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is a device that stays in your chest and shocks only when needed.
Most people can drive the day after and return to usual activities within a day or two. Your cardiologist will tell you what is right for you.
Some people do. If the abnormal rhythm returns, a repeat cardioversion may be offered, and your cardiologist may also suggest a rhythm medicine or cardiac catheter ablation to help a regular rhythm last.
Cardioversion is done in the hospital and is scheduled by the cardiologists of Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates and Heart South Cardiovascular Group. Ask the practice that follows your heart rhythm to schedule it, and book through that practice's own scheduling link: baptisthealthal.com/cva for Cardiovascular Associates, heartsouthpc.com for Heart South.
Cardiologists perform cardioversion to reset AFib or flutter back to a regular rhythm.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareStroke prevention before cardioversion protects the brain, which is why blood thinners come first.
Learn More About NeuroscienceAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)A painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, is a small device placed under the skin. It watches your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placementA pacemaker is a small device placed under the skin near your collarbone. It senses a heartbeat that is too slow or pauses,...
Learn More About Pacemaker implantationAn implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardiac loop recorder placementA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery, without opening your chest. It treats severe aortic stenosis, and a team of heart doctors decides together whether it is right for you.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has told you that the aortic valve in your heart has narrowed, you may be hearing the letters TAVR for the first time. A narrowed valve makes the heart work harder to push blood out to the body, and over time it can cause breathlessness, chest pressure and fainting. Replacing the valve is the treatment that relieves it. TAVR is one way to do that, and the new valve goes in through a catheter rather than through an open chest.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers TAVR at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham, where it is performed by a Heart Team of interventional cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon. This page explains who TAVR helps, what the day looks like and what recovery involves.
Before the day, you meet the Heart Team and have scans that size the valve and the arteries it travels through.
TAVR replaces a diseased aortic valve with a new one delivered on a catheter, a thin flexible tube. The new valve is folded small, guided to the heart and expanded inside the old valve, which it pushes aside. It starts working at once. The team does not remove the old valve, and the heart does not need to be stopped.
The catheter usually enters through an artery in the groin, and other entry points are used when the groin arteries are narrow. The Heart Team chooses the route that suits your body.
TAVR treats severe aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the valve that sends blood from the heart to the rest of the body. See heart valve disease for how valve problems are found and followed. It is approved for people at high, intermediate and low risk from open-heart surgery.
TAVR may be a good fit if:
For some people, aortic valve repair or replacement by open surgery is the better choice. Age, valve shape and your other health conditions decide, and your Heart Team talks that through with you.
Before TAVR you have a set of tests, which usually include an echocardiogram, a CT scan of the heart and blood vessels and a cardiac catheterization. They show the size of your valve and the path the catheter will take. You then meet the Heart Team, which reviews your case together.
Expect to be asked to stop eating and drinking the night before, and your team will tell you which medicines to take or hold, including blood thinners. Bring a list of your medicines and a family member or friend if you can.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You are given anesthesia, which may be general anesthesia or sedation that keeps you relaxed. The cardiologist places the catheter, guides the new valve to the right spot, expands it and checks with imaging that it works. A temporary pacing wire is often used during the procedure to control the heart rate. The procedure takes about two to three hours.
Most people stay in the hospital one to three days and feel better soon after, often with easier breathing within days.
You will take a blood thinner or antiplatelet medicine as your cardiologist directs, and you will have an echocardiogram to check the valve. Many people return to their usual activities within two to four weeks. Your team may refer you to cardiac rehabilitation, a supervised exercise and education program offered at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to you and your family at any Baptist Health hospital if you want them.
Every procedure has risks, and your team will go through yours before you sign. The main risks of TAVR are:
A Heart Team is the group of heart specialists who look at your case together before a valve decision is made. At Baptist Health it includes interventional cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon.
Doctors follow transcatheter valves with echocardiograms, and how long they last is studied closely. Your cardiologist will talk with you about what to expect for your age and health.
TAVR places a new valve through a catheter. Open-heart surgery opens the chest and replaces the valve directly. Both are proven treatments, and the right one depends on your age, valve and health.
Some people do, because the new valve lies close to the heart's electrical wiring. Your team checks your heart rhythm before you go home.
Some people do, years later, if the new valve wears. A worn TAVR valve can often be treated with a second valve placed inside it through a catheter, and your echocardiograms help your team see this coming.
TAVR is performed at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital by the Heart Team, led in structural heart by Stephen Bakir, MD. Referral and follow-up are through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which books through baptisthealthal.com/cva, or Heart South Cardiovascular Group, which books through heartsouthpc.com. The Baptist Health Valve Clinic, 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, MOB B, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35209, (205) 877-2901, is where a progressing valve problem is referred for evaluation.
A Heart Team of cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon decides together when TAVR is the right choice.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareA CT scan before TAVR sizes the new valve and maps the arteries it travels through.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your...
Learn More About Aortic valve repair or replacementA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without...
Learn More About Transcatheter mitral valve repairLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke...
Learn More About Left atrial appendage closureA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without opening the chest. It can ease breathlessness and tiredness for people whose valve leaks and who are weighing surgery.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your cardiologist has told you the mitral valve in your heart leaks, you may have noticed the effects before you knew the name: breathlessness on stairs, tiredness, swollen ankles, a cough at night. A leaking valve lets blood flow backward, so the heart works harder to move the same amount forward. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats mitral valve leaks with valve surgery and, for people who are right for it, with a repair done through a catheter.
This page covers the catheter repair, who it helps, what the day looks like, and what recovery involves. If your team is also weighing surgery, read mitral valve repair or replacement alongside it.
Before the day, you meet the Heart Team and have detailed ultrasound pictures of the valve, taken through the throat, which show whether a clip can fit your valve, so you know the plan.
The mitral valve has two flaps, called leaflets, that open to let blood into the main pumping chamber and close to keep it from flowing back. When they do not close fully, blood leaks backward. This is called mitral regurgitation. In transcatheter edge-to-edge repair, the cardiologist fastens the two leaflets together with a small clip so the valve closes better and the leak shrinks. The clip stays in your heart for good.
The clip travels on a catheter, a thin flexible tube, which goes in through a vein in the groin and reaches the heart through a small opening between the heart's upper chambers. Ultrasound pictures taken through the throat guide the placement.
The repair is for people with a significant mitral leak and symptoms. It is most often offered when open-heart surgery would put you at high risk, or when the leak is caused by a weakened heart and symptoms continue despite the best medicines. See heart valve disease and heart failure.
You may be a candidate if you:
Your Heart Team looks at all of this together. For some people, surgery to repair or replace the valve is the better choice, and the team will say so.
You will have an echocardiogram, usually including an ultrasound taken through the throat, and sometimes a cardiac catheterization. They show how the valve leaks and whether a clip will fit. Your team will tell you when to stop eating and drinking and which medicines to take or hold, including blood thinners. Bring a list of your medicines and a family member or friend if you can.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive general anesthesia, so you sleep through the procedure. The cardiologist guides the catheter to the heart, positions the clip across the two leaflets, and checks with ultrasound that the leak has shrunk before releasing it. If one clip does not do enough, a second may be added. The procedure usually takes one to three hours.
Most people spend one to two nights in the hospital, then rest at home and build activity back over days to a few weeks.
Many people feel less breathless within weeks as the heart no longer works against a large leak. You will have follow-up echocardiograms to check the clip, and your cardiologist will tell you which blood thinner or antiplatelet medicine to take and for how long. Your team may refer you to cardiac rehabilitation, a supervised exercise and education program offered at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to you and your family at any Baptist Health hospital if you want them.
Your team will go through your own risks with you before you agree. The main ones are:
No. The clip goes in through a vein and the chest is not opened. Surgery to repair or replace the mitral valve is a separate option, covered on its own page.
The goal is to reduce the leak to a level your heart can manage, and many people get a large improvement. Some leak often remains, and your team will measure it with follow-up echocardiograms.
Clips are also used on the tricuspid valve on the right side of the heart. Ask your cardiologist whether that applies to you.
Your Heart Team does, after reviewing your ultrasound pictures, your symptoms and your other health conditions.
Most people do. The clip treats the leak, and medicines for heart failure, blood pressure or rhythm often stay part of the plan. Your cardiologist reviews them at your follow-up visits and adjusts them as your heart recovers.
Transcatheter mitral valve repair is performed by the structural heart team, led by Stephen Bakir, MD, at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital. Referral and follow-up are through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which books through baptisthealthal.com/cva, or Heart South Cardiovascular Group, which books through heartsouthpc.com. The Baptist Health Valve Clinic, 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, MOB B, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35209, (205) 877-2901, is where a progressing valve problem is referred for evaluation.
Structural heart cardiologists place the clip when a leaking mitral valve needs repair without surgery.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureMitral valve surgery repairs a leaking or narrowed valve between the upper and lower left chambers of your heart, or...
Learn More About Mitral valve repair or replacementA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke...
Learn More About Left atrial appendage closureA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistLeft atrial appendage closure seals a small pouch in the heart where clots form in atrial fibrillation, to lower stroke risk. It is a one-time catheter procedure for people who cannot stay on blood thinners for life.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Atrial fibrillation raises the risk of stroke, and the usual protection is a blood thinner taken every day. For most people that works well. For some, long-term blood thinners cause bleeding, a fall would be dangerous, or the medicine simply cannot be tolerated. Left atrial appendage closure, often shortened to LAAC, gives those people another way to lower the risk of stroke. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers it through its heart rhythm and structural heart teams.
This page explains what the procedure does, who it is for, what the day looks like and what recovery involves.
Closure is a decision you make with your cardiologist after weighing your stroke risk against your bleeding risk, often over more than one visit. You will go over your heart imaging together and talk through what the implant can and cannot do, so you know the plan and what follows it before the day comes.
The left atrial appendage is a small pouch on the wall of the heart's upper left chamber. In atrial fibrillation, the chamber quivers rather than squeezing, blood moves slowly inside that pouch, and clots can form there. A clot that leaves the heart can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. In people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a valve problem, most of these clots form in the appendage.
Closure seals off the pouch with a small implant, such as the WATCHMAN device, so clots that form there cannot enter the bloodstream. The implant stays in place for good, and the heart tissue grows over it.
Closure is an option for people with atrial fibrillation who have a high risk of stroke and a good reason to avoid long-term blood thinners. Most stroke-causing clots in atrial fibrillation form in the left atrial appendage, so sealing it lowers the risk without a lifelong blood thinner.
You may be a candidate if you:
Medicine remains the first treatment for most people, and closure does not replace a blood thinner in the first weeks. Your cardiologist will weigh your stroke risk and bleeding risk with you. See anticoagulation therapy and monitoring for the medicine side.
Before closure you have an imaging test to measure the appendage, either a CT scan or an ultrasound taken through the throat, and often an echocardiogram. Your team will tell you when to stop eating and drinking and which medicines to take or hold, including blood thinners. Bring a list of your medicines and someone to drive you home when you leave.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive general anesthesia and sleep through the procedure. The cardiologist guides a catheter, a thin flexible tube, through a vein in the groin to the upper left chamber of the heart, and uses ultrasound pictures, usually taken through the throat, to place the implant across the opening of the pouch. The team checks that the implant is seated before releasing it. The procedure usually takes about an hour.
Most people stay in the hospital overnight. Nurses check the catheter site in your groin and your heart rhythm, and you lie flat for a few hours while the site seals.
You will take blood-thinning medicine for a period after the implant while the heart tissue covers it, followed by a lighter medicine such as aspirin, and the exact plan is your cardiologist's. You will have a follow-up ultrasound or CT scan about six weeks after the procedure to check that the pouch is sealed. Most people are back to usual activities within a few days to a week. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to you and your family at any Baptist Health hospital if you want them.
Call 911 for signs of a stroke, chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, fainting, bleeding where the catheter went in that does not stop after ten minutes of firm pressure, a lump there that is growing fast, or a leg that turns cold, pale or numb. Call your care team the same day for a small amount of oozing or bruising that is not growing, redness or drainage at the site, a fever, or pain at the site that is getting worse.
Your team will go through your own risks before you agree. The main ones are:
For many people, yes, after the follow-up scan shows the pouch is sealed. Your cardiologist decides when. Closure lowers stroke risk from the appendage, so your team will keep an eye on your other risks.
No. It lowers the risk of stroke. If you need the rhythm treated, your cardiologist may suggest cardioversion or cardiac catheter ablation.
No. The implant goes in through a vein in the groin, and the chest is not opened.
Your cardiologist and the structural heart and electrophysiology teams review your history and imaging together.
No. The implant is small and lies inside the heart, where it cannot be felt, and over the following weeks heart tissue grows over it. Most people notice nothing once the catheter site has healed.
Left atrial appendage closure is performed by Baptist Health's heart rhythm specialists (electrophysiologists) and by the structural heart team, which Stephen Bakir, MD, directs. Start with the practice that follows your heart rhythm, Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which books through baptisthealthal.com/cva, or Heart South Cardiovascular Group, which books through heartsouthpc.com. Hospitals with a heart rhythm lab include Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, Baptist Health Princeton Hospital and Baptist Health Shelby Hospital.
Structural heart and rhythm cardiologists place the implant and follow you with imaging.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareClosure lowers the risk of stroke from AFib for people who cannot stay on blood thinners.
Learn More About NeuroscienceAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionCardiac catheter ablation treats an abnormal heart rhythm from inside the heart. Thin tubes guided through a vein find the...
Learn More About Cardiac catheter ablationTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without...
Learn More About Transcatheter mitral valve repairA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistAortic valve surgery replaces, or in some cases repairs, the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body. It relieves breathlessness, chest pressure and fainting caused by a narrowed or leaking valve.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
The aortic valve is the heart's main exit door. Each time the heart beats, it opens to let blood out to the body and closes to keep it from flowing back. When it narrows or leaks, the heart strains, and over time you may feel breathless, dizzy or tired, or have pressure in your chest. When medicine is no longer enough, an operation on the valve can relieve those symptoms. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, performs aortic valve surgery at its Birmingham-area heart hospitals.
This page explains who needs the operation, what the day looks like, which valves are used and how recovery goes. If a catheter-based option may suit you, read transcatheter aortic valve replacement as well.
Valve surgery is usually a decision you make with your Heart Team over several visits. You will meet the surgeon, go over your tests together and talk through the valve choices, so you know what to expect before the day comes.
Aortic valve surgery corrects a valve that is narrowed (stenosis) or leaking (regurgitation). In replacement, the surgeon removes the damaged valve and sews in a new one. This is the more common operation on the aortic valve. In repair, the surgeon reshapes or reinforces your own valve so it closes properly. Repair is possible for some leaking valves, and your surgeon will tell you whether yours qualifies.
There are two kinds of replacement valve. A mechanical valve is made of durable materials and can last a lifetime, but you take a blood thinner called warfarin every day for the rest of your life. A tissue valve is made from animal or human tissue, usually does not require long-term warfarin, and typically lasts 10 to 20 years before it may need replacing. Your age, lifestyle and wishes shape which one suits you.
Surgery is recommended for severe aortic valve disease, usually when it causes symptoms or when the heart is beginning to enlarge or weaken even with few symptoms. See heart valve disease for how it is found and followed.
You may be a candidate if:
Your Heart Team reviews your case and talks through the choices with you.
Expect an echocardiogram, often a cardiac catheterization and other tests. Your team will tell you when to stop eating and drinking, which medicines to take or hold, and when to arrive. Bring a family member or friend to hear the plan with you, and a list of your medicines.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive general anesthesia and sleep through the operation. A heart-lung machine takes over the work of the heart and lungs while the surgeon works on the valve. The operation usually lasts three to five hours.
Afterward you wake in the cardiac intensive care unit, where nurses watch your heart and breathing around the clock. Most people stay in the hospital about four to seven days, including time in intensive care.
Full recovery usually takes several weeks, often six to eight. Your surgeon will give you activity limits, such as no heavy lifting or driving while the breastbone heals. If you have a mechanical valve, your team will start warfarin and check your blood often; see anticoagulation therapy and monitoring.
Cardiac rehabilitation helps you rebuild strength and confidence after valve surgery. It is a supervised program of 36 sessions, offered at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital, and it usually starts about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to you and your family at any Baptist Health hospital if you want them.
Open-heart surgery is a major operation, and your surgeon will go through your own risks with you before you agree. The main ones are:
Your surgeon looks at the shape of your valve on imaging and, in the operating room, at the valve itself. Repair is an option for some leaking valves. Replacement is the usual operation for a narrowed valve.
Mechanical valves last longest and require warfarin for life. Tissue valves usually avoid long-term warfarin and may need replacement later. Younger people more often choose mechanical, and older people tissue. Your surgeon will talk through your case.
Open surgery replaces the valve directly through an opened chest. TAVR places a new valve through a catheter. Both are proven treatments, and your Heart Team recommends the one that fits your age, valve and health.
Driving usually waits several weeks, until your surgeon clears you. Return to work depends on your job. Your surgeon will give you a date.
With a mechanical valve, yes: warfarin every day for life, with regular blood checks. With a tissue valve, many people take a blood thinner or aspirin for a period after surgery, as your team directs. Your surgeon explains the plan for your valve before you choose.
Aortic valve surgery is performed by Baptist Health's cardiac surgery team, which includes Andrew Papoy, MD, at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. Referral and follow-up are through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which books through baptisthealthal.com/cva. The Baptist Health Valve Clinic, 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, MOB B, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35209, (205) 877-2901, is where a progressing valve problem is referred for evaluation.
Cardiac surgeons repair or replace the aortic valve, and cardiologists follow the new valve for years.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without...
Learn More About Transcatheter mitral valve repairA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistMitral valve surgery repairs a leaking or narrowed valve between the upper and lower left chambers of your heart, or replaces it when repair is not possible. Your surgeon chooses the best option for your valve and your health.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
The mitral valve lies between the two left chambers of the heart and keeps blood moving one way, from the lungs toward the body. When it leaks or narrows, you may feel breathless, tired or aware of an uneven heartbeat, and over time the heart can enlarge. If your cardiologist has said you need surgery on this valve, you likely have questions about what the operation involves and how long you will be away from your life. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, performs mitral valve surgery at its Birmingham-area heart hospitals.
This page covers who needs the operation, what the day looks like, how repair and replacement differ and what recovery involves. If a catheter-based repair may suit you, read transcatheter mitral valve repair too.
Valve surgery is planned with your Heart Team over several visits. You will meet your surgeon, go over your heart pictures together and hear whether repair is likely for your valve.
In repair, the surgeon reshapes your own valve, often by trimming or supporting the flaps and tightening the ring around them, so that it closes properly. In replacement, the surgeon removes the valve and sews in a new one, either mechanical or tissue. The mitral valve is the valve most often repaired rather than replaced.
When repair is possible, it is usually preferred, because it keeps your own valve and your heart's natural structure. Repaired valves tend to last longer than tissue replacements, have a lower risk of infection and do not require lifelong blood thinners. Your surgeon decides after looking at your valve on imaging and, in the operating room, at the valve itself.
If replacement is needed, a mechanical valve is durable and may last a lifetime, but you take warfarin every day. A tissue valve usually avoids long-term warfarin and typically lasts 10 to 20 years before it may need replacing.
Surgery is recommended for severe mitral valve disease, usually when it causes symptoms or when the heart is beginning to enlarge or weaken. See heart valve disease for how it is found and followed. Repair keeps your own valve and is preferred when it is possible; replacement is used when it is not.
You may be a candidate if:
Your Heart Team reviews your case and talks through the choices with you.
Expect an echocardiogram, often an ultrasound taken through the throat, a cardiac catheterization and other tests. Your team will tell you when to stop eating and drinking, which medicines to take or hold and when to arrive. Bring someone to hear the plan with you, and a list of your medicines.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive general anesthesia and sleep through the operation. A heart-lung machine keeps blood moving through your body while the surgeon works on the valve. Repair can take longer than replacement. Expect about three to six hours.
Afterward you wake in the cardiac intensive care unit, where nurses watch your heart and breathing around the clock. Most people stay in the hospital several days, including time in intensive care, and need about four to eight weeks to recover fully.
Many people notice better breathing and energy within weeks. Your surgeon will give you activity limits, such as no heavy lifting or driving while the breastbone heals. If you receive a mechanical valve, or if you have atrial fibrillation, you will take a blood thinner; see anticoagulation therapy and monitoring.
Cardiac rehabilitation helps you rebuild strength and confidence. It is a supervised program of 36 sessions, offered at Baptist Health Shelby Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital, and it usually starts about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you. A chaplain and spiritual care are available to you and your family during your hospital stay if you want them.
Open-heart surgery is a major operation, and your surgeon will go through your own risks with you before you agree. The main ones are:
When repair is possible, it is generally preferred, and your surgeon will say whether your valve qualifies. When the valve is too damaged to repair, replacement gives a reliable result.
A mechanical valve can last a lifetime and requires warfarin every day. A tissue valve usually avoids long-term warfarin and typically lasts 10 to 20 years before it may need replacing.
It depends on the shape of your valve, why it leaks and your overall health. Your Heart Team looks at both options with you.
Driving usually waits several weeks, until your surgeon clears you. Return to work depends on your job, and your surgeon will give you a date.
A successful repair often lasts many years, and for many people it lasts a lifetime. Some repairs need attention later, which is why you keep regular follow-up visits and echocardiograms after surgery.
Mitral valve surgery is performed by Baptist Health's cardiac surgery team, which includes Andrew Papoy, MD, at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital and Baptist Health Princeton Hospital. Referral and follow-up are through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which books through baptisthealthal.com/cva. The Baptist Health Valve Clinic, 2022 Brookwood Medical Center Drive, MOB B, Suite 210, Birmingham, AL 35209, (205) 877-2901, is where a progressing valve problem is referred for evaluation.
Cardiac surgeons repair or replace the mitral valve when a leak or narrowing strains the heart.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseTranscatheter mitral valve repair fixes a leaking mitral valve with a small clip placed through a vein in the leg, without...
Learn More About Transcatheter mitral valve repairA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny balloon. It can ease leg pain when walking and helps blood reach tissue that needs it. Most people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If walking leaves your calves cramping, your feet feel cold, or a sore on your foot will not heal, a narrowed artery may be the reason. This is called peripheral artery disease, or PAD, and many people live with it for years before anyone names it. Angioplasty and stenting reopen the artery from inside, through a small puncture rather than a large incision. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, treats PAD with these procedures through its interventional cardiologists, who also help you with the medicine, exercise and habits that keep arteries open.
This page covers who benefits, how to prepare, what happens during the procedure, and what recovery looks like.
The procedure is usually planned after an ultrasound, and often a scan of the arteries, shows where the narrowing is; sometimes the angiography that confirms it and the treatment happen at the same visit. You will go over those pictures with your cardiologist and talk through what opening the artery can do for your walking, your pain or a wound.
Peripheral arteries bring blood to the legs, arms, kidneys and other parts of the body outside the heart. Plaque, a build-up of fat and calcium, can narrow them. In angioplasty, a cardiologist guides a catheter, a thin flexible tube with a tiny balloon at its tip, to the narrowed spot and inflates the balloon to widen the artery. Some balloons are coated with medicine that helps keep the artery open. In stenting, a small mesh tube, called a stent, is left in the artery to hold it open.
When plaque is heavy or hardened, the cardiologist may first remove it with a device on the catheter, a step called atherectomy, before opening the artery. This differs from coronary angioplasty, which opens arteries of the heart; see coronary angioplasty and stents.
Many people with PAD first try walking programs, medicines that protect the arteries and a stop to smoking. A procedure is recommended when those are not enough or when the blockage threatens the leg. See peripheral artery disease for symptoms and causes.
You may be a candidate if you:
Your cardiologist will review your tests with you and recommend a plan.
Your first tests are painless: a blood pressure check at the ankle and arm and an ultrasound of the arteries, such as a Doppler ultrasound. A vascular angiography shows exactly where the blockage is, and it may be performed at the same visit as the treatment. Your team will tell you when to stop eating and drinking and which medicines to take or hold, including blood thinners and diabetes medicines. Plan for someone to drive you home.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You stay awake but relaxed with numbing medicine at the entry spot and, if needed, medicine to help you rest. The cardiologist places a small tube into an artery, usually in the groin, and sometimes in the arm. Dye and X-ray pictures guide the catheter to the blockage. The cardiologist opens the artery with the balloon, places a stent if it is needed and checks the blood flow before finishing. Ultrasound from inside the artery can help size the stent. The procedure usually takes one to two hours.
You rest for a few hours while nurses check the entry spot and the pulses in your leg, keeping the leg or arm still so the artery can seal. Most people go home the same day, and some stay overnight.
Most return to light activity within a few days. Walking is encouraged as you feel able, because regular walking improves circulation in the legs. You will take medicines such as aspirin or another antiplatelet drug to keep the stent open, and you will have follow-up ultrasound tests. If you smoke, stopping is the most useful thing you can do for your arteries, and your team can help. Your team will tell you what to watch for, such as a cold foot, new pain or bleeding at the entry spot.
Your cardiologist will go through your own risks before you agree. The main ones are:
Often, yes. Walking programs, medicines and healthy habits help many people. A procedure is for those who need more.
Many people have lasting benefit, and arteries can narrow again, especially if risk factors such as smoking, diabetes or high cholesterol are not controlled. Follow-up tests catch narrowing early.
Heart South Cardiovascular Group offers a free vascular screening. See its page for how to request one.
Interventional cardiologists at Baptist Health treat PAD with catheter procedures. The doctor finder on this site lists them.
It can. Over months or years some treated arteries narrow again, which is why follow-up ultrasound tests are scheduled. Taking your medicines, walking and not smoking help keep the artery open, and a narrowed spot can often be treated again.
Peripheral artery angioplasty and stenting are provided by interventional cardiologists of Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, which books through baptisthealthal.com/cva, and by Heart South Cardiovascular Group, whose Heart South Vascular Institute outpatient lab is at 1022 1st Street North, Alabaster, AL 35007 and books through heartsouthpc.com. Treatment is planned after your first visit and testing.
Interventional cardiologists open narrowed leg arteries from the inside to ease pain and heal wounds.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareGood diabetes control helps a treated leg artery stay open and foot wounds heal.
Learn More About Endocrinology and DiabetesPeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye,...
Learn More About Vascular angiographyEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter...
Learn More About Endovenous ablationSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the...
Learn More About Sclerotherapy for varicose veinsPhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of...
Learn More About PhlebectomyA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a stent, heart surgery or a heart failure diagnosis. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers cardiac rehabilitation at Princeton, Shelby and Calhoun hospitals. Most programs run 36 sessions.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You have had a heart event or a procedure, and the hospital part is over. Now comes a different question: how do you get back to the walk, the garden, the grandchildren, and trust your heart while you do it? Cardiac rehabilitation is the answer most cardiologists give, and it is built for exactly this moment.
Cardiac rehab is a program of monitored exercise, teaching about heart health and support for the worry that often follows a heart event. A team of nurses and exercise specialists watches your heart rate and blood pressure as you exercise, and raises your effort as you get stronger. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers it at Baptist Health Princeton Hospital, Baptist Health Shelby Hospital and Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital.
This page covers how the program works, who it is for, how to start, what sessions look like, and the risks.
Cardiac rehabilitation, often called cardiac rehab, is a supervised program that helps your heart and body recover after a heart problem. It has three parts that work together: exercise that is tailored to you and watched by a nurse or exercise specialist, education about food, medicines, stress and quitting tobacco, and support for how you feel as well as how you move.
Programs are usually run by nurses and exercise physiologists, often with a dietitian. At Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital, registered nurses trained and certified in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation provide care, and a cardiac rehab nurse or exercise physiologist does the first assessment.
Cardiac rehab lowers the chance of another heart event, helps you feel stronger and more confident, and improves how long and how well people live after heart disease.
Your doctor may refer you for cardiac rehab if you have had:
Calhoun's program also works with people who have lung disease.
You begin with a referral from your cardiologist or surgeon. Once they clear you, the program contacts you to set a start date. At Baptist Health, people typically start about a month after that clearance.
Before your first visit:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Your first visit. A nurse or exercise specialist reviews your history, checks your blood pressure and heart rhythm, and sets goals with you.
Your sessions. You exercise on equipment such as treadmills and bikes while the team watches your heart rate, rhythm and blood pressure. Each session also includes teaching about heart-healthy eating, medicines and stress. The team raises your effort a little at a time and adjusts your plan as you improve.
How many sessions. The program is 36 sessions. How many weeks that takes depends on how often you come.
Calhoun's three phases. Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital's program follows three phases:
Calhoun's rehab center also offers strength and flexibility training, and an aquatic therapy pool.
At Princeton and Shelby, the program is the supervised exercise and education sessions above. Neither offers a separate maintenance phase, and neither has a home or remote option today.
Cardiac rehab is the recovery. Most people feel stronger with each week, and many say the biggest change is confidence. By the end, the goal is that you know your limits, your medicines and your habits well enough to keep going on your own. Your cardiologist stays your lead doctor.
Cardiac rehab is safe for people your doctor has cleared, and the monitoring is there to catch problems early. As with any exercise, you may have sore muscles at first. Rarely, exercise brings on chest pain, an irregular heartbeat or dizziness; the team stops the session and responds.
Medicare and many private plans cover cardiac rehab for eligible diagnoses, usually up to 36 sessions. Call your plan or the program to confirm your benefit and any copay.
Not at Baptist Health today. Programs run in person, where the team can watch your heart as you exercise.
Most people start about a month after your surgeon and cardiologist clear you. Ask your cardiologist when you are cleared and who will call you.
Tell the team at once. They are trained for it and will stop the session and care for you. Away from rehab, call 911 for chest pain that does not ease with rest, or with shortness of breath, sweating or fainting.
Call the program to let them know. Missing an occasional session is common, and the team helps you pick up where you left off. Coming regularly is what builds strength and confidence, so tell the team if something keeps getting in the way.
Cardiac rehabilitation is offered at three Baptist Health hospitals. Call the program or ask your cardiologist to send the referral.
Your referral usually comes from a heart team such as Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates, Heart South Cardiovascular Group or Baptist Health Medical Group Cardiology, Anniston.
Cardiologists refer you to cardiac rehab after a heart attack, stent, heart surgery or heart failure.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareWorry and low mood are common after a heart event, and rehab teams help you cope as you recover.
Learn More About Behavioral HealthCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackCoronary angioplasty opens a narrowed or blocked heart artery with a tiny balloon, and a stent, a small mesh tube, keeps it...
Learn More About Coronary angioplasty and stentsCoronary artery bypass surgery uses a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to route blood around a blocked...
Learn More About Coronary artery bypass surgeryTranscatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, gives you a new aortic valve through a thin tube placed in an artery,...
Learn More About Transcatheter aortic valve replacementAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringOur practices and hospitals continue your care after a diagnosis or a procedure.
Find a CardiologistA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how well it pumps and how its four valves open and close. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers echocardiograms at its hospitals and at heart practice offices across Alabama.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your doctor listened to your heart, or you had shortness of breath, swelling or a rhythm that did not feel right, and now an echocardiogram is on the schedule. It is one of the most common heart tests and one of the easiest. You lie on a table while a technician moves a small handheld device over your chest, and a moving picture of your heart appears on a screen.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, performs echocardiograms at its hospitals and at its heart practices in the Birmingham area and beyond. Your doctor reads the pictures and talks with you about what they show.
Most echocardiograms need no special preparation, and you can usually drive yourself home and go straight back to your day. This page covers why your doctor may order one, how to get ready, what happens during the test, its risks, and how to understand your results.
An echocardiogram, often called an echo, uses sound waves to make a moving image of your heart on a video screen. Heart South Cardiovascular Group describes it as a test that lets your doctor study the thickness, size and function of your heart, along with the motion and structure of your four heart valves. The sound waves are the same kind used to see a baby before birth, and they use no radiation.
An echo shows how your heart is working as it beats, which a still picture cannot. Doctors use it to find the cause of symptoms and to follow a heart condition over time.
Sometimes a standard echo cannot show a part of the heart clearly enough, and your doctor may order a transesophageal echocardiogram, taken through the throat while you are sedated. If your doctor wants to see how your heart works under effort, you may have a stress echocardiogram, with pictures taken before and right after exercise or a medicine that makes the heart work harder. Your doctor tells you which kind you will have and how to prepare for it.
For most echocardiograms, you need no special preparation: eat, drink and take your medicines as usual. You may be asked to change into a gown from the waist up.
Wear a two-piece outfit so only your top needs to come off. Bring your medicine list. If your doctor ordered a different type of echo, such as one done during exercise or one that uses a scope in the throat, the practice will give you its own instructions.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A technician, called a sonographer, places a few small, flat stickers on your chest to follow your heart rhythm. You lie on your left side on an exam table. The technician applies a little gel to your chest and presses a handheld device, called a transducer, against your skin and moves it to different spots. You may be asked to hold your breath for a moment or to roll slightly. The test is usually painless, and the pressure from the device can feel firm.
When it finishes, the technician wipes off the gel. You can go back to your day right away.
A standard echocardiogram has no known risks. It uses no radiation and no needles, and nothing enters your body. The gel may feel cool, and a few people have skin irritation from the stickers.
A cardiologist reviews the pictures and measurements and sends a report to the doctor who ordered the test. The report describes the size and thickness of your heart's chambers, how strongly it pumps, how well your valves work and whether there is fluid around the heart.
One measurement you may hear is the ejection fraction, the share of blood your heart pumps out with each beat. A normal number is usually in the range of 50 to 70 percent. A lower number can point to a heart that pumps with less force, and your doctor will explain what it means for you.
No. The device presses against your chest, and some people find that uncomfortable around tender areas. You can tell the technician if it hurts.
Plan on about an hour at the office or hospital for check-in, the test and changing. The pictures themselves often take 30 to 60 minutes.
For a standard echo, usually no. If your doctor orders another type, follow the instructions the office gives you.
No. An EKG records the electrical signals that start each heartbeat. An echo makes a picture of the heart's structure and movement. Many people have both.
A cardiologist reads the pictures and sends a report to your doctor, who goes over the results with you and explains what comes next.
Baptist Health offers echocardiograms at these places. Ask the practice that ordered your test where to go.
Hospitals
Practice offices
Cardiologists order and read the echo to see how the heart pumps and how its valves work.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareA murmur or breathlessness found at a checkup is a common reason primary care orders an echo.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)Cardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive...
Learn More About Nuclear stress testA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no...
Learn More About Coronary calcium scoringA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds when it works harder. It helps your doctor find heart disease, rhythm problems and damage. If you cannot exercise, medicine can give your heart the same stress.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Some heart problems stay hidden while you rest. Your heart pumps along fine in a chair, and only shows strain when it has to work. An exercise stress test, often just called a stress test, asks your heart to work while a team watches closely, so your doctor can see what resting tests cannot.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers stress testing through its heart practices and at Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital. The test is supervised from start to finish, and it often takes less time than people expect.
You walk on a treadmill while the team watches your heart rhythm, blood pressure and how you feel, and you can ask to stop at any time if you feel unwell or too tired. This page covers why your doctor may order the test, how to get ready, what happens during it, its risks, and how to understand your results.
During an exercise stress test, an electrocardiogram (EKG) records your heart's electrical activity while you exercise in a controlled way, usually by walking on a treadmill that gradually gets faster and steeper. A nurse or technician also checks your blood pressure, and a doctor reviews the results. Heart South Cardiovascular Group describes the test as a way to help detect heart irregularities, disease and damage.
If you cannot walk on a treadmill, your doctor can use medicine that makes your heart work harder in the same way. That is sometimes called a chemical stress test.
Your heart's arteries may supply enough blood at rest and fall short when your heart needs more. A stress test can show that. It can also show a rhythm that appears only with effort.
If the test points to a blockage, the next step may be cardiac catheterization.
Your practice will give you exact instructions. In general:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A technician places small sticky patches on your chest and attaches wires that connect to the EKG machine. A blood pressure cuff goes on your arm. First you rest while the team records your heart's baseline.
Then you begin to walk on the treadmill. Every few minutes, the speed and slope increase. You can say at any time how you feel. The team keeps watching your heart rhythm, your blood pressure and how you look and feel. You stop when you reach your target heart rate, when you are too tired or short of breath to continue, or if the team sees something that tells them to stop.
Afterward you rest for several minutes while your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal. The walking itself usually lasts well under 15 minutes, and the whole visit takes roughly an hour.
A stress test is safe for most people, and trained staff supervise it from start to finish. You may feel tired, short of breath or lightheaded, and the team will stop the test if you do. Rarely, the test causes chest pain, an irregular heartbeat or a heart attack, and the team is ready to respond.
The cardiologist reviews the EKG and blood pressure readings and sends a report to the doctor who ordered the test.
Tell your doctor when you schedule, including any joint, balance or breathing problem. Medicine can raise your heart rate in the same way, and some tests combine it with imaging.
Yes, for most people, and that is when it is most useful. Your doctor orders the test only if it is right for your heart, and the team watches you closely. Tell the team about any chest pain, dizziness or new symptoms before you start.
Ask the practice when you schedule. Some medicines are taken as usual, and others are held. Do not stop a heart medicine on your own.
Most people drive themselves home after an exercise stress test. Ask when you schedule, and plan for a driver if you take a medicine that makes you drowsy or your test includes medicine to stress the heart.
Comfortable clothes and walking or running shoes. A top that opens in the front, or a loose shirt, makes it easier to place the patches on your chest.
Ask the practice that ordered your test where to go.
Cardiologists use the stress test to look for narrowed arteries and rhythm problems with effort.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareChest discomfort with exercise is a common reason primary care sends you for a stress test.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseHeart failure means the heart pumps with less force than your body needs. It does not mean the heart has stopped. Baptist...
Learn More About Heart failureA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)A heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive...
Learn More About Nuclear stress testA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no...
Learn More About Coronary calcium scoringA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive tracer to show how well blood reaches your heart muscle. Stress comes from treadmill exercise or from medicine. Plan on three to four hours at Heart South's office.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your doctor wants a closer look at the blood flow to your heart. An exercise test shows how your heart's electrical signal responds to effort. A nuclear stress test adds pictures, so your doctor can see which parts of the heart muscle get plenty of blood and which do not.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers nuclear stress testing through Heart South Cardiovascular Group and through Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates. The word nuclear can sound alarming. The tracer is a very small amount of radioactive material that your body clears on its own, and the test is a standard way to look at the heart.
Plan to spend several hours on the day, and bring something to read, because the pictures are taken at rest and again after your heart has worked harder.
A nuclear stress test is a supervised test in which your heart is stressed, by treadmill exercise or by medicine, while an EKG monitors it. A radioactive tracer is injected into a vein. A special camera takes one set of pictures after the stress and a second set at rest, and your doctor compares the two. Heart South Cardiovascular Group describes it this way and notes that your doctor interprets the images afterward.
The tracer travels in your blood and collects in healthy heart muscle in proportion to the blood reaching it. Areas that take up less tracer on the stress pictures may be getting less blood.
A nuclear stress test shows where blood flow to your heart muscle falls short, which an EKG alone cannot show.
If the pictures point to a blockage, your doctor may recommend cardiac catheterization.
Heart South gives you a prep sheet for this test. Follow the sheet your office gives you. As it stands, the sheet asks you to:
Plan to be at the office for 3 to 4 hours.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown and the team places EKG patches on your chest. A nurse or technician places an IV in your arm.
Then your heart is stressed. You walk on a treadmill, or, if you cannot exercise, you receive medicine through the IV that makes your heart work as it would with exercise. The EKG and your blood pressure are watched throughout. At the peak of the stress, the team injects the tracer.
After the stress, you lie still on a table under a camera that takes pictures of your heart. Later, a second set of pictures is taken at rest. Most of the visit is waiting between the steps.
Most people have no problem with this test. The IV can bruise. The medicine used to stress the heart can cause flushing, a headache, a fast heartbeat or chest pressure for a few minutes, and the team can reverse these effects. The tracer gives you a small dose of radiation, similar to other imaging tests, and passes out of your body in a day or so. Rarely, stress brings on chest pain or an irregular heartbeat, and the team is there to respond. Tell your doctor if you are or may be pregnant, or if you are nursing.
A cardiologist compares the two sets of pictures and sends a report to the doctor who ordered the test.
The pictures can also show how well your heart pumps.
The tracer needs time to reach your heart, and there are two sets of pictures. Most of the visit is waiting between steps. Heart South asks you to plan for three to four hours.
Yes. Caffeine can interfere with the medicine used in the test, and Heart South's sheet excludes decaffeinated drinks too. Milk, juice and water are fine.
The amount is small, and your body clears it on its own within a day or two; drinking water helps. Tell the team if you may be pregnant or are nursing, since the test may be changed or delayed.
Most people can. Ask when you schedule.
Ask the practice when you schedule. Some heart medicines are held before the test and others are taken as usual. Do not stop a heart medicine on your own.
Heart South Cardiovascular Group performs nuclear stress tests. For questions about your test, call 205-663-5775. To schedule, call or use the online booking at heartsouthpc.com.
Baptist Health Cardiovascular Associates also offers nuclear stress testing, at the Colonnade and Jasper offices. Call (205) 510-5000 or request an appointment at baptisthealthal.com/cva.
Cardiologists read where blood flow to the heart muscle falls short under stress.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareNuclear imaging takes the pictures that show blood flow to the heart at rest and under stress.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseA heart attack happens when blood flow to part of the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. It is an emergency: call 911....
Learn More About Heart attackCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no...
Learn More About Coronary calcium scoringA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It helps your doctor find rhythm problems that come and go, such as skipped beats, a racing heart or pauses. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers heart rhythm monitoring in its Alabama heart practices and hospitals.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your heart skipped, fluttered or raced in the grocery store, and by the time you reached the doctor it was behaving. Many rhythm problems come and go like this, and a short EKG in the office often misses them. A Holter monitor goes home with you for a day and catches what happens while you live your life.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers Holter monitoring through Heart South Cardiovascular Group, and Baptist Health Calhoun Hospital lists ambulatory monitoring among its heart services. The test is painless, and what you do is wear it and write down how you feel.
You go home with the monitor and keep to your normal day while it records, then return it so your cardiologist can read the recording. This page covers why your doctor may order one, how to get ready, what wearing it is like, its risks, and how to understand your results.
A Holter monitor is an electrocardiogram (EKG) that is attached to you for 24 hours. It records your heart's electrical activity continuously as you go about your daily routine, so your doctor can see your rhythm through a full day and night. Heart South Cardiovascular Group describes it this way. The monitor is small enough to wear on a strap or clip, with thin wires leading to patches on your chest.
A normal EKG shows your heart for about 10 seconds. A Holter monitor shows it for a day, which gives your doctor a much better chance of catching a rhythm that comes and goes.
If your symptoms come less than once a day, your doctor may choose a monitor you wear longer, or an implantable cardiac loop recorder that records for years.
The recording can also show that your rhythm stayed normal while you felt symptoms, which helps your doctor look for another cause. Either answer moves your care forward, and your doctor goes over the results with you and explains what comes next.
You need no fasting, and you can eat and take your medicines as usual unless your doctor says otherwise. A few tips help:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A technician cleans small areas on your chest, and a few may need shaving so the patches stick. The technician places the patches, connects the wires to the recorder, and checks that it is working. The visit usually takes about 15 to 30 minutes.
Then you go home and live your day. Do what you normally do, including exercise if your doctor has said it is fine, because the aim is to catch your heart in your everyday life. Keep a diary of the time you feel symptoms, and what you were doing. Press the button on the recorder if it has one. Keep the monitor dry: sponge bathe rather than shower unless your practice says otherwise.
After the wear time your practice sets, usually 24 to 48 hours, you return the monitor to the office.
A Holter monitor has no risks to your heart. It only records. Some people get mild skin irritation or redness where the patches were, and it clears quickly once they are removed.
A technician and cardiologist review the recording and your diary, matching what you felt to what your heart did. The report goes to the doctor who ordered the test. It may show how fast your heart beat, whether it paused, and whether there were extra beats or a sustained abnormal rhythm.
No. The patches feel like bandages, and removing them can pull a little at the skin.
Usually not. Most Holter monitors are not waterproof, so plan your bath before your visit. Ask your practice for its rule.
The recorder tracks your rhythm the entire time you wear it, so it captures what happens even when you do not press a button. Write down the time of each symptom in your diary.
Tell your doctor. A longer monitor or an implantable loop recorder can catch rhythm problems that do not appear every day.
Yes, you can. Keep to your usual activity, including exercise your doctor has cleared, and note in your diary what you were doing when you felt symptoms. Keep the recorder close to your body, and stay away from electric blankets, magnets and high-voltage areas while you wear it, since they can interfere with the recording.
Ask the practice that ordered your test where to go.
Cardiologists read the recording to match palpitations or dizziness to your heart rhythm.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareDizziness and fainting can come from the heart or the brain, and a Holter helps tell them apart.
Learn More About NeuroscienceAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationA heart arrhythmia is a problem with the heart's electrical signals, so the heart beats too fast, too slow or unevenly. Many...
Learn More About Heart arrhythmia (tachycardia and bradycardia)An implantable loop recorder is a very small device placed just under the skin of your chest. It records your heart rhythm...
Learn More About Implantable cardiac loop recorder placementCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive...
Learn More About Nuclear stress testA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no...
Learn More About Coronary calcium scoringYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistA quick heart scan that measures the calcium in your heart's arteries, an early sign of plaque build-up. It needs no dye, no needles and no fasting, and the scan itself takes about five minutes. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers it through Heart South, and your score helps your doctor judge your risk.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Heart disease often builds for years before it causes a symptom. Calcium scoring is a way to look for it before symptoms start. If your doctor has suggested one, you may be wondering whether the scan is hard or whether it is a sign something is wrong. The scan is quick and easy, and many people who take it have no symptoms at all.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers coronary calcium scoring through Heart South Cardiovascular Group. Heart South describes it as a heart scan that can detect heart disease even before you have symptoms.
The scan takes only minutes, needs no needles or dye, and you can drive yourself home afterward. Your doctor uses the score together with your cholesterol, blood pressure and family history. This page covers why the scan is ordered, how to get ready, what happens during it, its risks, and how to understand your score.
Coronary calcium scoring, also called a calcium score or a heart scan, is a specialized X-ray test, a CT scan, that makes pictures of your heart and measures the calcium-containing plaque in your coronary arteries. Those are the arteries that feed your heart muscle. Cholesterol builds up on artery walls and, over time, calcium collects in that build-up. The more calcium the scan finds, the more plaque is likely in your arteries.
Heart South uses a 64-slice CT scanner, which it describes as fast and detailed. The scan gives a number, your calcium score.
A calcium score helps your doctor decide how strongly to treat your heart disease risk. For someone whose risk is uncertain, a high score can tip the decision toward medicine such as a statin or toward other protective steps. A score of zero can be reassuring.
Calcium scoring is most useful for adults without heart symptoms whose risk of heart disease falls in the middle, and who are unsure whether to start medicine. Your doctor may suggest one if you:
If you already have chest pain, your doctor will usually choose a different test, such as a stress test.
A calcium scan adds less for people whose treatment is already clear: those already diagnosed with coronary artery disease, those already taking a cholesterol medicine their doctor recommends, and younger adults with very low risk. Ask your doctor whether the result would change your plan before you book one.
Heart South says the test needs no prep, no dye and no fasting, and you drink nothing special. You can eat and take your medicines as usual. Wear a two-piece outfit and avoid metal buttons or snaps on top, so nothing blocks the picture.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You lie on a table that slides into the CT scanner, and small EKG patches on your chest help time the pictures to your heartbeat. You hold your breath for a few seconds while the scanner takes the pictures. The scan itself takes less than a minute, and the visit takes about five minutes. No dye or sedation is needed.
You can return to your day right away, including driving and going back to work.
The scan uses a small dose of radiation, about a third of that in a usual CT scan according to Heart South's cardiologist. Tell the team if you are or may be pregnant. Because the scan can find calcium you did not know about, it may lead to more tests or to starting treatment.
Your result is a number called the Agatston score. A cardiologist reviews the scan and sends your doctor the report. A general guide:
A higher score does not mean you will have a heart attack, and a score of zero does not guarantee you never will. The score is one piece of your risk picture, next to your cholesterol, blood pressure, age and family history. Your doctor will talk with you about the steps that fit your number. Many people find that seeing the picture makes them more willing to follow through on treatment.
If your score is above zero, your doctor focuses on the steps that lower your risk: medicines such as a statin, activity, food and not using tobacco. The scan is not usually repeated once treatment has started, because the result would not change the plan. A score of zero is sometimes repeated after several years to see whether anything has changed.
Often it does not. Ask your insurer and ask Heart South about the cost when you schedule.
Ask when you schedule.
No. Calcium scoring is a scan with no needle, no dye and no recovery time. Cardiac catheterization is a procedure that looks inside the arteries.
Your doctor decides. A score of zero is often not repeated for several years, and a higher score is not usually repeated just to track plaque.
Your doctor talks with you about what the score means for your risk and whether to start or change medicine, such as a statin. A higher score is a reason to act on the risk factors you can change, and it does not by itself mean you need a procedure.
Heart South Cardiovascular Group offers calcium scoring. Call 205-663-5775 to schedule, or book online at heartsouthpc.com.
Cardiologists use your calcium score to decide how strongly to treat your heart disease risk.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareThe calcium score comes from a quick CT scan of the heart, with no dye or needles.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingYour primary care doctor may suggest a calcium score when your heart risk is unclear.
Learn More About Primary CareCoronary artery disease means the arteries that feed your heart have narrowed over time. It is common, it is treated every...
Learn More About Coronary artery diseaseA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA heart imaging test that compares pictures of your heart at rest and under stress, using a small amount of radioactive...
Learn More About Nuclear stress testA small, wearable heart recorder that tracks your heart's rhythm for a day or two while you go about your normal day. It...
Learn More About Holter monitorA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It involves no needles, no dye and no radiation, and it helps your care team find a blockage, a clot or a leaking vein.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
A Doppler ultrasound is a painless scan of your blood vessels. A technician moves a small handheld probe over your skin, and sound waves paint a picture of the blood moving beneath it: how fast it flows, which way it flows, and whether anything is slowing it down. Your doctor may order one when your legs ache, swell or feel heavy, or when a neck artery needs a closer look.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers Doppler testing through its Alabama heart and vascular practices. Heart South Cardiovascular Group performs venous and carotid Doppler studies, and the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover performs venous flow studies for people with vein concerns. The test takes place in the office, so most people walk in and walk out the same day.
The test needs little preparation and no needles, and most people drive home and go straight back to their day afterward.
Doppler ultrasound is a non-invasive test that evaluates blood flow in the major veins and arteries of the arms and legs. A Doppler study can also look at the carotid arteries, the vessels in the neck that supply the brain.
The test works the way a standard ultrasound does. The probe sends out sound waves that are too high for people to hear, and the waves bounce back from moving blood cells. A computer turns the echoes into a picture and a sound. Fast, slow, blocked and backward flow each look and sound different, which is how the technician and your doctor read what is happening inside the vessel.
You may also hear the term duplex ultrasound. A duplex scan combines the picture of the vessel with the Doppler measurement of the blood moving through it. Heart South lists duplex ultrasound among its peripheral vascular services.
A Doppler ultrasound shows how blood moves through your arteries and veins, so your doctor can find a narrowing, a clot or a leaking valve without any needles or radiation.
Your doctor may order a Doppler ultrasound to look for:
Symptoms that often lead to the test include leg pain or cramping when you walk, ankle swelling, a heavy feeling in the legs, and skin or hair changes on the lower legs.
Most Doppler studies need little preparation. Wear loose clothing that is easy to roll up or remove from the area being scanned. Bring your medication list and any earlier vascular test results you have.
Take your medicines as usual unless your care team tells you otherwise. If you have questions about the day of your test, call the office that scheduled it.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A trained technician guides you through each step, and the test usually takes under an hour.
For a leg artery study, the technician may also take blood pressure readings at several points on your legs and arms. This is the ankle-brachial index, and Heart South's free vascular screening pairs it with a leg ultrasound.
A Doppler ultrasound has no known risks. It uses sound waves rather than radiation, it needs no contrast dye, and it requires no needle or incision. You may feel mild pressure where the probe presses on your skin. Tell the technician if any spot is sore.
A physician reads the images and measurements, and your care team talks with you about what the scan found.
No. You may feel the cool gel and light pressure from the probe. If one spot feels tender, tell the technician.
A standard Doppler ultrasound needs no needle and no contrast dye.
A physician reads the study and your care team reviews it with you.
They use the same kind of sound waves. An echocardiogram looks at the heart itself, and a Doppler ultrasound looks at the blood vessels in the arms, legs and neck.
Most take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how many vessels are checked. A scan of both legs, or of the arteries and veins together, takes longer than one area.
Your doctor orders the test, and the office that performs it schedules the visit.
Vascular specialists use Doppler results to find narrowed arteries, clots and leaking veins.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareDoppler ultrasound is an imaging test that shows blood moving through your vessels.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingPeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes...
Learn More About Carotid artery diseaseDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye,...
Learn More About Vascular angiographyAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter...
Learn More About Endovenous ablationSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the...
Learn More About Sclerotherapy for varicose veinsA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistVascular angiography is an X-ray test that shows the inside of your blood vessels. Your care team injects contrast dye, takes images as it flows through your arteries or veins, and can see narrowings, blockages and other changes in your legs, neck, belly or arms.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Vascular angiography gives your care team a clear picture of the blood vessels outside the heart. A contrast material, a dye that shows up on X-ray, is injected into the bloodstream, and X-ray images follow the dye as it moves through your arteries or veins. Where a vessel is narrowed, blocked or bulging, the picture shows it.
Your doctor may suggest angiography after a Doppler ultrasound or another test points to a problem. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers vascular angiography through Heart South Cardiovascular Group, and its interventional cardiologists treat vessel disease across the Alabama practices and hospitals. When the picture shows a blockage, the same team can often plan treatment in the same visit or soon after.
You will know the plan before the day, including whether a treatment such as a stent may be done during the same visit. This page covers why the test is ordered, how to get ready, what happens during it, and its risks.
Vascular angiography is a test to view a radiographic image of the vascular system after a contrast material has been injected. Your vascular system is the network of arteries and veins that moves blood through your body. An angiogram can study the arteries in your legs, the carotid arteries in your neck, the aorta in your chest and belly, or the veins that return blood to your heart.
The contrast dye makes the vessel's inner channel visible. A thin tube called a catheter is usually used to place the dye right where the doctor needs to look, which gives a sharper picture than a scan taken through a vein in your arm. A CT scan can create similar images with dye given through a small IV. Heart South also lists cardiac and vascular CT angiography and CT venography among its imaging services.
Angiography that looks at the heart's own arteries is called cardiac catheterization. This page covers the vessels outside the heart.
A vascular angiogram gives your doctor the most detailed view of the arteries outside the heart, so a decision about treatment rests on exactly where a narrowing, blockage or bulge is.
A doctor may order vascular angiography to:
The test is usually the next step after a noninvasive test such as Doppler ultrasound has shown that blood flow in a vessel is reduced.
Your care team gives you instructions for your visit. Most people are asked to:
Wear loose clothing and leave jewelry at home.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Angiography is done in a procedure room, usually while you are awake.
The test usually takes under an hour, and your doctor can explain the timing for your visit.
Vascular angiography is a common test, and serious problems are uncommon. Possible risks include:
Your doctor weighs these against the value of the information, and you can ask any question before the day of the test.
Your doctor reviews the images and talks with you about what they show. An open vessel looks like a smooth, bright channel. A narrowing shows as a pinched area, a blockage as a place where the dye stops, and an aneurysm as a bulge.
Depending on what the images show, your team may recommend medicine, lifestyle changes, a procedure to open the vessel, or follow-up imaging. If you take a blood thinner after treatment, your team may follow your dose through anticoagulation therapy and monitoring.
You feel a brief sting when the area is numbed. After that, most people feel pressure at the site and warmth from the dye.
Your team will tell you how long to rest, how to care for the site, and when to return to normal activity. Call the office if the site bleeds, swells, becomes more painful, or your leg or arm turns cold or pale. For heavy bleeding or chest pain, call 911.
Often, when the images show a blockage your team can treat. Your doctor will talk with you about this before the test.
The test itself usually takes under an hour, longer if a treatment is done in the same visit. Plan for several hours in all, including preparation and rest afterward.
For most people, yes. The dye can strain kidneys that already work less well, so tell your team about kidney disease or diabetes. Your team may check a blood test beforehand and give you fluids to protect your kidneys.
Your doctor orders the test, and the performing team schedules it with you.
Vascular specialists use angiography to plan and often perform treatment for a narrowed artery.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareAngiography uses X-ray and contrast dye to show the arteries in detail.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingPeripheral artery disease means the arteries that bring blood to your legs have narrowed, so your legs get less blood than...
Learn More About Peripheral artery diseaseCarotid artery disease means the arteries on each side of your neck, which supply your brain, have narrowed. It often causes...
Learn More About Carotid artery diseaseAn aortic aneurysm is a weakened, bulging spot in the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel. Many cause no symptoms and are...
Learn More About Aortic aneurysmCardiac catheterization uses a thin, flexible tube guided through a blood vessel to your heart. It shows your doctor how...
Learn More About Cardiac catheterizationAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin),...
Learn More About Anticoagulation therapy and monitoringA painless ultrasound of your heart. Sound waves make a moving picture that shows the size and thickness of your heart, how...
Learn More About EchocardiogramA test that records your heart's rhythm and blood pressure while you walk on a treadmill, to show how your heart responds...
Learn More About Exercise stress testYour doctor orders the test and the practice schedules it. Ask the practice that ordered it about times and preparation.
Find a CardiologistAnticoagulants, often called blood thinners, lower the chance that a dangerous clot forms. If you take warfarin (Coumadin), regular blood checks guide your dose. Heart South's Coumadin clinic watches your results closely and adjusts your medicine when needed, so you stay in a safe range.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor prescribed a blood thinner, you have probably heard two things: take it every day, and come back for blood tests. Both matter. An anticoagulant slows your blood's ability to clot. That protects people from clots that cause stroke, deep vein thrombosis and other blockages, and a small adjustment in dose can make the difference between protection and risk.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, supports people on blood thinners through Heart South Cardiovascular Group's Coumadin clinic. The clinic closely monitors patients who take Coumadin, the brand name for warfarin, which keeps the blood from clotting. The team checks your blood, reviews your results and changes your dose when necessary, so that you do not have to guess.
This page covers how blood thinners work, what they are used for, what to check before you start, what monitoring and daily life look like, and the side effects to watch for.
Anticoagulation therapy is treatment with a medicine that makes your blood slower to clot. The medicines are often called blood thinners, although they do not make blood thinner. They lengthen the time it takes a clot to form.
Warfarin, sold as Coumadin, is one of the most widely used. Its effect changes with your diet, your other medicines and your health, so it needs regular monitoring. The blood test used is the prothrombin time, reported as the INR (international normalized ratio). Your doctor sets a target INR range for you. Below the range, you may not be protected from clots. Above it, your risk of bleeding goes up.
There are two main groups of blood thinners taken by mouth. Warfarin needs regular INR checks and attention to vitamin K in food. The newer direct oral anticoagulants, such as apixaban, rivaroxaban, dabigatran and edoxaban, do not need routine INR checks and have fewer food interactions, though they are not right for everyone, including people with a mechanical heart valve. Your doctor chooses the one that fits your condition. The Heart South Coumadin clinic focuses on patients who take Coumadin.
Doctors prescribe anticoagulants to lower the risk of dangerous clots in situations such as:
Before you begin treatment, tell your care team about all your medicines, vitamins and herbal products, because many change how warfarin works. Mention any history of bleeding, stomach ulcers, falls, or planned surgery or dental work.
Bring your medicine list and your last INR results to your first clinic visit. Ask about foods rich in vitamin K, such as leafy green vegetables. You can eat them, and the aim is to keep the amount you eat about the same from week to week.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Coumadin management includes frequent blood checks and changes to the dose of medication when necessary. A typical visit follows these steps:
Take your medicine at the same time each day, and change your dose only when your care team tells you to.
The main risk of any blood thinner is bleeding. Most bleeding is minor, such as nosebleeds, bleeding gums or easy bruising. Call your care team if these happen often or last longer than usual.
A dose that is too low can leave you open to a clot, so missing doses matters too.
Often at first, then less often as your INR stays inside your target range. Your care team sets the schedule for you.
Call the clinic for advice. Do not double the next dose unless your care team tells you to.
Alcohol can change how warfarin works. Ask your care team what is safe for you.
Some people take a blood thinner for a few months and some for life. Your doctor reviews your need over time.
Hematologists cover complex clotting cases at all Baptist Health facilities.
Cardiologists prescribe blood thinners for AFib, clots and mechanical valves, and monitor the dose.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareBlood thinners are the main treatment for a clot in the lungs, a pulmonary embolism.
Learn More About Pulmonary and Critical CareFor AFib, blood thinners are what lower the risk of a stroke.
Learn More About NeuroscienceDeep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a blood clot in a deep vein, most often in the leg. It is treatable, and a quick, painless...
Learn More About Deep vein thrombosisAtrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common heart rhythm problem: the upper chambers beat in a fast, irregular pattern....
Learn More About Atrial fibrillationHeart valve disease means one or more of the heart's four valves does not open or close as it should. Many people are...
Learn More About Heart valve diseaseAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingCardioversion resets a heart that is beating too fast or out of rhythm, most often in atrial fibrillation. You are given...
Learn More About CardioversionA medically supervised program of exercise, education and support that helps you rebuild strength after a heart attack, a...
Learn More About Cardiac rehabilitationOur practices and hospitals continue your care after a diagnosis or a procedure.
Find a CardiologistEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter in the vein and heats its wall, and blood reroutes through healthy veins. The procedure takes place in the office, and most people walk out afterward and return to daily life within days.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
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Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
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Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
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A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Veins in your legs have small valves that keep blood moving up toward your heart. When those valves weaken, blood leaks backward and pools. The vein stretches, bulges and can cause aching, heaviness, swelling, burning or itching, and sometimes skin changes or sores. Endovenous ablation treats the source: it closes the leaking vein so blood no longer collects there.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers endovenous ablation at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover and through Heart South Cardiovascular Group's vein center. Both practices treat varicose veins and other vein conditions with minimally invasive options that aim to ease pain and shorten recovery.
Treatment starts with a visit and an ultrasound of your legs, so your doctor can see which veins are leaking and whether ablation is the right fit. This page covers why it is performed, how to get ready, what the visit and the weeks after look like, and the risks to weigh.
Endovenous means inside the vein, and ablation means removing or closing by treatment. In this procedure a doctor uses ultrasound to guide a thin tube, called a catheter, into the diseased vein through a small opening in the skin. Energy from the tip of the catheter heats the vein wall, and the vein closes. After the vein closes, your body gradually absorbs it. The blood that used to flow through it takes other routes through healthy veins in the leg.
Heart South describes radiofrequency (RF) ablation, which delivers controlled heat to the vein wall and causes the vein to close. Laser energy is a second way to heat the vein, and both are called thermal ablation.
Endovenous ablation closes a leaking main vein in the leg so blood stops pooling there. The aim is to ease aching, heaviness and swelling, and to help skin changes and sores near the ankle heal and stay healed.
Your doctor may recommend ablation when a main leg vein is leaking and causing symptoms or complications of varicose veins, such as:
Before recommending ablation, your doctor confirms which vein is leaking with a duplex ultrasound. You stand for this scan while a technician moves a probe over your legs, and the images reveal where valves are leaking. See Doppler ultrasound for what to expect. Ablation suits a leaking trunk vein, while smaller surface veins are often treated with sclerotherapy or phlebectomy, sometimes in the same treatment plan.
Your vein team gives you written instructions, and these usually cover:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The procedure is done in the office, and numbing medicine keeps the treated leg free of pain.
You rest for a short time while the team checks your leg, then you get up and walk. The leg may feel tight or bruised along the treated vein for a week or two, which is expected as it heals.
Most people go home the same day and walk soon afterward, and your team encourages walking daily. You will likely wear a compression stocking for a period your team sets.
Avoid long periods of standing or staying seated and heavy lifting until your doctor says you can resume. Many people see their legs improve over the weeks after treatment as the closed vein is absorbed. A follow-up visit, often with an ultrasound, confirms the vein has closed.
Serious problems are uncommon. Possible effects include:
Your doctor reviews these with you before the procedure. Call your vein team if pain, redness or swelling grows, and call 911 for chest pain or shortness of breath.
Numbing medicine keeps the area free of pain. Most people feel pressure or a pulling feeling, and afterward some soreness along the vein.
The closed vein is absorbed by the body. New varicose veins can form over time, and your team will talk with you about follow-up.
It treats a medical cause of leg pain, swelling and skin changes, and it also improves how veins look.
Ablation closes a larger leaking vein with heat from a catheter. Sclerotherapy closes smaller veins by injecting a medicine.
Some people do. If more than one vein is leaking, or smaller surface veins remain, your doctor may plan more than one session or add sclerotherapy or phlebectomy. Your follow-up ultrasound shows what, if anything, is left to treat.
Vein specialists use ablation to close a leaking main leg vein from the inside.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the...
Learn More About Sclerotherapy for varicose veinsPhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of...
Learn More About PhlebectomyAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the vein shrinks, and blood moves through healthier veins. Visits are short, and some people need a series of treatments to reach the result they want.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Spider veins are small purplish or blue clusters near the skin, and they usually cause no discomfort. Varicose veins are larger, bluish veins that often rise above the skin on the legs and can bring pain, aching, heaviness, restless legs, and burning or itching of the skin. Sclerotherapy is an effective treatment for both.
The treatment is an injection. Your doctor places a medicine in the affected veins, which shrinks them. Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers sclerotherapy, including ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy, at the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover and through Heart South Cardiovascular Group's vein center.
Treatment starts with a visit, and often an ultrasound of your legs, so your doctor can see which veins are involved and whether sclerotherapy alone fits or works best alongside another vein treatment. This page covers why it is performed, how to get ready, what a session and the weeks after look like, and the risks to weigh.
Sclerotherapy is a procedure that closes a vein with an injected medicine. The medicine, called a sclerosing agent, irritates the inside of the vein wall. The vein walls then stick together and seal, and over the following weeks the body absorbs the closed vein. Blood that used to flow through it moves through other veins nearby.
Your doctor may use a liquid or a foam form of the medicine. For veins deeper under the skin, the team can use ultrasound to see the vein and guide the needle to the right spot. This is called ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy.
Some people need a series of treatments, since each visit treats one area and larger veins may need more than one session.
Sclerotherapy closes small and medium surface veins so blood moves through healthier veins instead. The aim is to ease aching and burning, and to clear veins that bother you for how they look.
Your doctor may recommend sclerotherapy to:
A duplex ultrasound often comes first. It shows which veins are leaking and which treatment fits, as described on the Doppler ultrasound page. Larger varicose veins sometimes call for other options, such as phlebectomy, which removes a vein through small punctures.
Your team gives you instructions for your visit. Common ones include:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A session is brief and takes place in the office.
You can usually walk right away and return to most routines the same day.
Your team will likely ask you to wear compression stockings for a period and to walk each day. Avoid hot baths, saunas and long periods of standing for the time your team suggests.
Treated veins often look worse for a short time as they bruise, then fade over weeks. Results build over the following weeks, and some veins need another session.
Many people need two or more sessions, a few weeks apart, to reach the result they want. Your doctor tells you how many to expect for your veins and when to come back.
Sclerotherapy is a common treatment, and most effects are mild. They can include:
Call your vein team if you have increasing pain, redness or swelling. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, or sudden swelling of one leg with pain.
No. It is also used to treat the symptoms varicose veins cause, such as aching, heaviness, and burning or itching of the skin.
It varies. Some people need a series of treatments, and your doctor will give you an estimate after looking at your veins.
The needle is very fine. Most people feel a sting and some cramping for a moment as the medicine goes in.
A treated vein usually stays closed, though some veins reopen and need another session, and new veins can appear over time, so your team talks with you about follow-up.
Yes. Sclerotherapy treats the veins you have now, and new ones can form over time, especially with a family history of vein disease. Walking, staying at a healthy weight and wearing compression stockings when your team suggests them can help.
Vein specialists treat spider and varicose veins with injections, alone or with other vein care.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter...
Learn More About Endovenous ablationA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundPhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of...
Learn More About PhlebectomyAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a CardiologistPhlebectomy removes varicose veins through tiny punctures or small cuts in the skin. Numbing medicine keeps the area free of pain, and the procedure treats bulging surface veins that cause aching, heaviness and swelling. Many people go home the same day and walk right away.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Some varicose veins bulge so far above the skin that closing them is not the best fit. For those veins, a doctor can take them out. Phlebectomy is the removal of varicose veins through small punctures or incisions in the skin. The openings are tiny, and many are small enough that they need no stitches.
Baptist Health, part of Orlando Health, offers phlebectomy through Heart South Cardiovascular Group's vein center, and the Baptist Health Vein Center in Hoover offers the full range of vein procedures.
Treatment starts with a visit and an ultrasound of your legs, so your doctor can map which veins to remove and whether another vein treatment should come first. This page covers why it is performed, how to get ready, what the visit and the weeks after look like, and the risks to weigh.
Phlebectomy, sometimes called ambulatory phlebectomy, is a procedure that removes varicose veins close to the skin. Your doctor makes a very small opening over the vein, lifts the vein out through it with a fine hook, and removes it in sections. The word ambulatory means you walk in and walk out.
Removing the surface vein does not stop blood from reaching your leg. Healthy veins deeper in the leg return the blood to your heart, and the removed veins were doing little of that work.
Phlebectomy removes bulging surface veins so blood no longer pools in them. The aim is to ease aching, heaviness and tenderness, and many people also like how their legs look afterward.
Your doctor may recommend phlebectomy for larger, bulging varicose veins that cause:
Phlebectomy is often one part of a plan. A doctor may first close a leaking trunk vein with endovenous ablation and then remove the bulging branch veins that remain, or treat smaller surface veins with sclerotherapy. A duplex ultrasound maps the veins first. See Doppler ultrasound for what that scan involves.
Your team gives you instructions for your visit. Common ones include:
Before the visit, your doctor may mark the veins on your skin while you stand, because bulging veins flatten when you lie down.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The procedure takes place in the office.
Because the area is numb, you may feel pulling or pressure but little pain.
Most people go home the same day and are encouraged to walk soon afterward. You will likely wear a compression wrap or stocking for a period your team sets, and you will need to keep the openings clean and dry for the first days.
Bruising and soreness fade over the following days and weeks. A follow-up visit lets your doctor check healing and look at any remaining veins.
Raise your leg when you rest during the first few days to ease swelling and soreness. Walking every day helps the leg heal, and most people return to desk work within a day or two and to exercise when their team says so.
Phlebectomy is a common procedure, and serious problems are uncommon. Possible effects include:
Call your vein team if you have increasing pain, redness, warmth, drainage or fever. Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing. Call your vein team the same day for sudden swelling of one leg with pain, which can be a clot in a deep vein.
The openings are very small. They leave small marks that fade for most people. Your doctor can describe what to expect for your skin.
No. Vein stripping is a larger operation done in an operating room under general or regional anesthesia, through incisions at the groin and knee. Phlebectomy uses tiny openings and local numbing, and takes place in the office.
Yes. Walking is encouraged, and your team gives you specific limits for your recovery.
The removed veins do not return. New varicose veins can form over time, and your team talks with you about follow-up.
Often, yes. Your doctor may close a leaking trunk vein with endovenous ablation and remove the bulging branch veins in the same visit, or plan the steps a few weeks apart, depending on your veins.
Vein specialists remove bulging surface veins, often after a leaking main vein has been closed.
Learn More About Heart and Vascular CareVaricose veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the skin, usually in the legs, caused by weakened vein valves. They can...
Learn More About Varicose veinsEndovenous ablation closes a leaking varicose vein from the inside. Guided by ultrasound, your doctor places a thin catheter...
Learn More About Endovenous ablationSclerotherapy treats spider veins and varicose veins with a small injection. A medicine goes into the affected vein, the...
Learn More About Sclerotherapy for varicose veinsA Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to show how blood moves through the veins and arteries in your arms, legs and neck. It...
Learn More About Doppler ultrasoundAngioplasty and stenting open a narrowed artery in the leg or elsewhere outside the heart, using a thin tube and a tiny...
Learn More About Peripheral artery angioplasty and stentingA first consultation or a second opinion starts with the practice that performs the procedure.
Find a Cardiologist