While stethoscopes are used in a variety of situations, they are most commonly used to monitor patient's hearts. Doctors use cardiology stethoscopes to listen for a variety of irregular sounds that could signal heart problems. Some problems detected by cardiology stethoscopes are irregular heartbeats and heart murmurs.

There are a number of different types of cardiology stethoscopes. Acoustic stethoscopes allow doctors to listen to the internal sounds of a patient's body but do not amplify or record the sounds. Newer electronic stethoscopes do amplify and record internal body sounds. Many electronic stethoscopes can play back recorded sounds at various speeds and even create graphics or charts to visually represent patterns of the sounds. While acoustic stethoscopes may not have all of the same features as electronic models, they are still more common than electronic models and are reliable for detecting irregularities in a patient's heartbeat and noticing blood flow problems.

Some of the sounds that doctors most often look for with cardiac stethoscopes are irregular heartbeats and heart murmurs. Cardiologists can hear the distinct sounds that these irregularities cause and treat the patient before the problem becomes worse.

An irregular heartbeat could mean many things. Some people's hearts quickly speed up when they drink caffeine or alcohol. These types of irregularities are not life threatening, but could be uncomfortable. Other times, an irregularity could be a sign that the person has a life threatening condition such as ventricular fibrillation.

Heart murmurs are the sound of blood flowing too quickly or in abnormal pathways. Many athletes and some pregnant women have heart murmurs, but constant heart murmurs can be a sign that something is seriously wrong.

Cardiology stethoscopes can save lives. Cardiologists use them to detect any unusual noises and diagnose and treat problems before they become life threatening.