The Cardiology Division of the Department of Medicine is an integral part of the UCSF Medical Center HEART AND VASCULAR CENTER, which is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment, and eradication of heart and vascular disease through research. Despite declining death rates, heart and vascular disease is still the number one cause of death in industrialized nations.

The UCSF Cardiology Faculty Practice is using today’s most sophisticated tools to diagnose heart and vascular disease in people who may be at high-risk, such as those with a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or those nearing middle age and worried about a lifestyle that has been harsh on the heart.

Screening in the UCSF Cardiology Faculty Practice consists of laboratory tests to measure the amounts of fats and cholesterol in the blood, and a combination of non-surgical imaging technologies that provide physicians a window into the heart. Also, the full range of heart disease prevention and treatment are available from drug therapy to invasive procedures and surgery.

Subspecialty sections of the Cardiology Division include electrophysiology (heart rhythm), heart failure/transplantation, pulmonary hypertension/lung transplantation, echocardiography, stress testing (ECG, nuclear, ultrasound) and advanced cardiac imaging (MRI and CT scan).

Clinical services include the outpatient Cardiology Faculty Practice, Cardiac Electrophysiology Service, inpatient Cardiology Service, inpatient Cardiology Consultations, Interventional Cardiology, and the Heart Failure/Transplantation Service.

Cardiology faculty are involved in a wide range of basic (laboratory) and clinical (patient) research. UCSF’s strength over the years has been the investigation of new therapies for heart disease, such as catheter ablation of heart rhythm disturbances. More recently, we have begun to study the application of stem cells to the treatment of heart disease.