Greetings
The Department of Cardiovascular Medicine provides medical care for patients with cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases include diseases of the heart and blood vessel diseases, like myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, hypertension, peripheral arterial disease, and phlebothrombosis.With the aging of the population and the Westernized lifestyles, the number of cardiovascular diseases has been increasing in Japan.
The Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of Hokkaido University Hospital handles 1) preventive health care of hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, etc., 2) emergency care for acute myocardial infarction, etc., and 3) advanced medical care for serious heart failure, refractory arrhythmias, etc. as its three key clinical pillars.
We provide high-quality, advanced, safe and reliable cardiovascular treatment and serve as the last stronghold for patients with cardiovascular diseases in Hokkaido.
Outline
Medical care system
Medical care is provided to 495 inpatients per year as well as approximately 80 first-visit outpatients and 1,227 return-visit outpatients per month.There are six clinical specialist groups: ischemia and heart catheter group, heart failure and exercise test group, arrhythmia and cardiac electrophysiology group, cardiovascular diagnostic imaging group, echocardiography group and vascular and molecular biology.
Treatment policy
- We do our best for our patients.
- We wish to provide high-quality medical care.
- We ensure a safe and reliable medical care system.
Areas of medical care
Major cardiovascular diseases include hypertension, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease and congenital heart disease.Consultation hours
First visit: Monday through Friday, by appointment only (Check in 30 minutes before the scheduled time. A referral letter from a referring hospital and a prior appointment are necessary.)Return visit: Monday through Friday, by appointment only (Please follow your doctor’s directions.)
Major tests and equipment
Tests
Echocardiography, Holter electrocardiography, 24-hour sphygmomanometry, exercise electrocardiography, nuclear cardiology tests, cardiac CT, cardiac MRI, cardiac catheter test, coronary arteriography, cardiac electrophysiologic technique (EPS), head-up tilt test HUT, averaged electrocardiogram, etc.Equipment
Echocardiograph, Holter electrocardiograph, 24-hour sphygmomanometer, intravascular ultrasound system, coronary angioscopy, platelet aggregation test apparatus, plethysmograph, flow cytometer, etc. The biplane serialography apparatus, CT, MRI and nuclear medical diagnosis equipment are shared with other departments.Procedures performed
Annual number of tests (2013)
- Echocardiography: 3511
- Holter electrocardiography: 518 (including stress echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography)
- Exercise test: 341 (of which, cardiovascular exercise test: 263)
- Nuclear cardiology test: 615
- Cardiac PET: 50
- Cardiac catheter test: 410 (CAG: 340, LVG: 16, right heart catheterization; 220, acetylcholine loading test: 14, biopsy: 23, FFR: 17)
- Cardiac electrophysiological techniques: 23
- Cardiac MRI: 222
- Cardiac CT: 82
Annual number of treatments (2013)
- ◆ Total number of treatments: 132
- Coronary intervention: 100 (cases on the waiting list: 57, emergency cases: 33)
- Peripheral vascular intervention: 8
- Percutaneous catheter aortic valvuloplasty: 2
- Others: 22
- ◆ Total number of emergency cases: 124
- Number of ACS: 38 Number of PCI for ACS: 33
- Number of CPA: 36
Patients with arrhythmia (2013)
- Myocardial catheter ablation: 112
- Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) transplantation: 33
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) transplantation: 15
- Permanent pacemaker implantation: 24