What is the difference between a cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon?
They are both heart specialist but trained totally differently.
Cardiologists manage and control heart disease. They prescribe MEDICINE and ORDER TESTS to evaluate the patient. Interventional cardiologists perform cardiac angiograms and stents. For example, if you have chest pain, who should you see? See cardiologist first to make the diagnosis, if your blockages is severe requiring bypass, they refer the patient to a surgeon.
Cardiothoracic surgeons use a KNIFE to cut open the chest. The surgeons are trained and certified to open the patients’ chests. Some surgeons are also trained in minimally invasive procedure and endoscopic procedures. They do valve replacements, Coronary artery bypass grafts and a removal of a lung tumor. They then manage the patient until out of the hospital, at which time the cardiologist takes back over long-term management.
R. WONG TECK WEE was a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Physician at Hospital Serdang and an Associate Professor of Medicine at UPM before joining iHEAL Medical Centre as Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Physician. He was also the head of cardiology unit at medical department, UPM...Read More