CHICAGO, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Medicine® recently launched a new sports cardiology program, matching specialists with athletes to evaluate and treat cardiovascular conditions with the goal of helping patients of varying abilities stay in the game.

Designed for athletes at all levels, from those looking to compete with a known heart ailment to hard-charging weekend warriors who want to maximize their performance, a dedicated team of physicians and nurses offer advanced cardiovascular treatment and testing. The Northwestern Medicine Sports Cardiology Program staff understands, respects and shares the commitment to sustaining a healthy lifestyle through athletics and offers services in Chicago, Glenview and Lake Forest.

"It's exciting as a doctor to focus on wellness and helping athletes at all levels achieve their full potential," said R. Kannan Mutharasan, MD, co-director of the Sports Cardiology Program with Micah Eimer, MD, a cardiologist and the medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Glenview Outpatient Center. "We offer services for all types of athletes, from marathoners to those who are looking to start a sports regimen following a cardiac event, using the knowledge and resources of the Midwest's top-ranked cardiovascular center, the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute."

The recently launched program focuses on providing services to five types of athletes:

• Young athletes looking for a screening examination for heart issues.
• Athletes with a known heart condition who need help evaluating screening results.
• Emerging athletes, or those looking to work out more regularly or toward a specific athletic goal who want to make sure they are exercising safely following a cardiac event, like a heart attack, or a new diagnosis or treatment for high cholesterol or hypertension.
• Master's athletes, those 35 years or older who exercise regularly and are considered in excellent health who may encounter a performance setback and want to know why.
• Elite performance athletes looking for ways to maximize their cardiovascular health. The Sports Cardiology Program offers advanced testing like cardiopulmonary exercise testing to provide more data to tailor training plans.

"This is an ideal collaboration between athletic trainers, team physicians, and sports cardiologists to provide comprehensive care for athletes at three different locations," said Eimer, who is also a cardiologist on staff at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

The Sports Cardiology Program joins an already robust Northwestern Medicine sports medicine program offering specialized care for athletes in the fields of sports medicine, orthoapedic surgery, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, neurology and nutrition.

The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is ranked 1st in Chicago and 12th nationally, according to the 2013-14 U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospitals" report.

For more information about Northwestern's Sports Cardiology Program, call (312) NM-HEART or visit heart.nmh.org.

About Northwestern Medicine®
Northwestern Medicine® is the collaboration between Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine around a strategic vision to transform the future of healthcare.  It encompasses the research, teaching and patient care activities of the academic medical center. Sharing a commitment to superior quality, academic excellence and patient safety, the organizations within Northwestern Medicine comprise more than 9,000 clinical and administrative staff, 3,100 medical and science faculty and 700 students. The entities involved in Northwestern Medicine remain separate organizations. Northwestern Medicine is a trademark of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and is used by Northwestern University.

About Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Northwestern Memorial is one of the country's premier academic medical center hospitals and is the primary teaching hospital of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Along with its Prentice Women's Hospital and Stone Institute of Psychiatry, the hospital has 1,705 affiliated physicians and 6,769 employees.  Northwestern Memorial is recognized for providing exemplary patient care and state-of-the art advancements in the areas of cardiovascular care; women's health; oncology; neurology and neurosurgery; solid organ and soft tissue transplants and orthopaedics.

Northwestern Memorial has nursing Magnet Status, the nation's highest recognition for patient care and nursing excellence. Northwestern Memorial ranks 6th in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report 2013-14 Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals. The hospital is recognized in 14 of 16 clinical specialties rated by U.S. News and is No. 1 in Illinois and Chicago in U.S. News' 2013-14 state and metro rankings, respectively. For 14 years running, Northwestern Memorial has been rated among the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" guide by Working Mother magazine. The hospital is a recipient of the prestigious National Quality Health Care Award and has been chosen by Chicagoans as the Consumer Choice according to the National Research Corporation's annual survey for 15 consecutive years. 

SOURCE Northwestern Medicine