Stressing the cardiopulmonary circulation can reveal early heart disease
Mads Jønsson Andersen is a consultant, clinical associate professor and now also the holder of a higher doctoral degree from the Department of Clinical Medicine. He has investigated how stressing the heart can reveal disease that is not detected by standard examinations.
Breathlessness can be a sign of heart disease, but in some patients it is difficult to identify the cause when examinations are carried out at rest. In some people, the problems only become apparent when the heart and circulation are placed under stress.
Mads Jønsson Andersen, from the Department of Clinical Medicine and the Department of Cardiology at Aarhus University Hospital, investigated this in his higher doctoral dissertation. Using invasive measurements taken directly in the cardiopulmonary circulation, he examined how the heart and blood vessels respond to different forms of stress.
“The aim is for patients to receive a more precise diagnosis earlier. This may help doctors identify the cause of breathlessness in cases where examinations at rest do not provide a clear answer,” says Mads Jønsson Andersen.
The research may contribute to earlier and more precise diagnosis of patients in whom heart disease is a possible explanation for their symptoms. This includes early forms of heart failure and heart valve disease, where symptoms often only occur when the body is under stress.
Contact
Clinical Associate Professor, PhD and Consultant Mads Jønsson Andersen
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine, and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Cardiology
Telephone: +45 23 70 59 25
Email: andersen.mads@clin.au.dk