I don't envy being a doctor as the stress can be unbearable; however they're life savers and more often than not, we're eternally grateful for their sacrifice. This brings me to my mother and her years long fight with AFIB and her ailing heart condition. She's been doing poorly so I took her to her doctor of many years at Charleston Heart Specialists in North Charleston. Dr Cuoco and his NP Kristen Laudati are located at the Medical Plaza in Charleston in an easy to navigate suite of offices. I'll first add that they don't open their doors before 8:30am so if you have an early appointment please factor that into your schedule. Next the office is very clean with a few amenities such as coffee, water and magazines with plenty of seating. Filling out the paperwork online will save a lot of time however they can accommodate those who chose to do it in the office. Our appointment was at 8:30 and I believe we were called back within 5 minutes of said time. As far as I can tell, they're efficient with attending to their patients. The nurses are decent in doing their job however they used the electronic cuff, which I observed is wrong 25% of the time anywhere it's used. That said after doing a manual BP test my mothers' vitals got closer to normal which was reassuring. The NP Kristen Laudati was very informed before she even came in. I can't express how valuable this is as most will just review information in front of their patients. Her dialog had confidence in not only her knowledge but that of drug interactions and her concerns therein as well as laying the ground work for the doctor. In short, I felt confident that my mother had good care as apposed to a conveyor belt mentality. As for Cuoco I rather enjoyed his demeanor. He had all the angles figured out before hand while going over our situation in great detail. Moreover, while outlining his plans he made it clear about the success rates for each option and the backup plan along with his confidence in each one. In other words "we'll try this and if it doesn't work which might be 50% success rate, we'll look at these two options." There was no attempt to give a warm fuzzy as the variables, ie my mothers age and preexisting conditions, since the first solution had potential for failure. However, knowing the plan had factored in these points comforted my mother. In summary, I think Dr Cuoco and his staff give the best care that can be expected, without compromise. Even the staff are intelligent, well-seasoned in health care for the heart and strive to focus on the patient's quality of life. For any new patients I think you'll be well served considering Dr Cuoco for all of your heart specialist needs. read more

As we end this holiday season and think about what and who we are most thankful for I'd have to say Dr. Sidney is by far the top of my list. This amazing, confident, and gifted doctor has given me my life back. I had suffered with a-fib daily and terribly for years; not living but only surviving from day to day and feeling like I could die. It's a debilitating and scary condition. Dr. Sidney and his staff were extremely caring and patient with me, easing my fears and helping me along the way. There's no way I could ever re-pay the kindness he has showed me. I'm 46 and feel like a new woman! Dr. Sidney gave me my life back and that's something that me and my family are forever grateful for. If you want the best heart care for you and your family, Dr. Sidney and his incredible staff is THE BEST you'll find. I highly recommend! Thank you, Dr. Sidney, so very much. -Lisa Boggs read more