General Cardiology
Although Dr Turner’s practice can be very specialised, he can easily offer assessment of general cardiology problems. As he can perform ultrasound scans of the heart himself, this can be done at the same visit if needed, saving a second visit for this commonly needed non-invasive investigation.
Assessment of Breathlessness
Breathlessness is a common symptom of heart disease and the first issue is to determine if breathlessness is due to heart or lung disease. The most useful first investigations are an ultrasound of the heart (that Dr Turner can do at the same visit) and simple lung tests (also available at the initial visit). If it appears that the lungs are the problem, Dr Turner would refer you to a lung specialist for further assessment, or if the heart, he will be able to recommend treatment or further investigations at the initial visit.
Heart Rhythm problems
Palpitations of the heart are a common symptom. Sometimes there is an underlying heart rhythm disorder, but sometimes it is benign. The standard approach to this is to try and define the rhythm problem with heart recordings, and secondly to look for underlying heart disease, which usually includes a heart ultrasound scan and sometimes an exercise test. With these simple out-patient tests it is often possible to provide reassurance, or start treatments straight away. If the palpitations are indicative of important underlying heart disease, Dr Turner can investigate this further, usually with very short waiting times.
Coronary artery disease
Dr Turner can offer standard investigations for patients with chest pain or previous heart attack. Spire has a cardiac catheterisation lab for doing angiograms but also has a brand new state-of-the-art CT scanner that give similar information in a less invasive way, which is applicable to some patients. This can provide similar information to the angiogram without some of the inherent, risks of a traditional angiogram. Spire Hospital Bristol also has a new MRI scanner capable of the highest standard fo heart MRI scanning, that can provide additional non-invasive information about the effects of coronary artery disease. Dr Turner works closely with Drs Hamilton and Manghat, who are highly experienced specialist heart radiologists, who provide premier league CT and MRI imaging.
High blood pressure and vascular risk management
There is an enormous amount of evidence that we can lower the risks of heart disease and stroke by preventative measures. However, we do not always maximise these opportunities to prevent two of the most feared medical conditions – heart attack and stroke. Dr Turner can advise on risk assessment, using some of the additional investigations available at Spire Bristol, and on maximising the benefits from preventative treatments, such as blood pressure control, cholesterol treatments (which is not only statin therapy), diet and exercise.