Cardiology Stethoscopes
While stethoscopes are used in a variety of situations, they are
most commonly used to monitor patient's hearts. Doctors use
cardiology stethoscopes to listen for a variety of irregular
sounds that could signal heart problems. Some problems detected
by cardiology stethoscopes are irregular heartbeats and heart
murmurs.
There are a number of different types of cardiology
stethoscopes. Acoustic stethoscopes allow doctors to listen to
the internal sounds of a patient's body but do not amplify or
record the sounds. Newer electronic stethoscopes do amplify and
record internal body sounds. Many electronic stethoscopes can
play back recorded sounds at various speeds and even create
graphics or charts to visually represent patterns of the sounds.
While acoustic stethoscopes may not have all of the same
features as electronic models, they are still more common than
electronic models and are reliable for detecting irregularities
in a patient's heartbeat and noticing blood flow problems.
Some of the sounds that doctors most often look for with cardiac
stethoscopes are irregular heartbeats and heart murmurs.
Cardiologists can hear the distinct sounds that these
irregularities cause and treat the patient before the problem
becomes worse.
An irregular heartbeat could mean many things. Some people's
hearts quickly speed up when they drink caffeine or alcohol.
These types of irregularities are not life threatening, but
could be uncomfortable. Other times, an irregularity could be a
sign that the person has a life threatening condition such as
ventricular fibrillation.
Heart murmurs are the sound of blood flowing too quickly or in
abnormal pathways. Many athletes and some pregnant women have
heart murmurs, but constant heart murmurs can be a sign that
something is seriously wrong.
Cardiology stethoscopes can save lives. Cardiologists use them
to detect any unusual noises and diagnose and treat problems
before they become life threatening.