Echocardiography
Also known as an echocardiogram or echo test, echocardiography uses ultrasound to create images of your heart that show its size, structure and motion. It is more detailed than a standard X-ray. It provides valuable information that can be used to detect
abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), congenital heart disease, heart failure and heart valve disease. Three-dimensional echocardiography is the most technologically advanced form of this testing method.
Transesophageal Echocardiograms
This test uses sound waves to create moving images of the heart and blood vessels. To do perform this test, a doctor will guide a flexible tube called a probe down your throat and into your esophagus, which is directly behind the heart. This allows doctors
to get a detailed picture of the heart.
Computed Tomography (CT) Angiography
CT angiography uses a CT scanner to create detailed images of blood vessels and tissues. This is done by injecting dye into a catheter that’s placed into a vein in the arm. The CT scan will watch how this dye flows through the blood vessels to various
parts of the body.
Exercise Stress Test
An exercise stress test measures the effect of exercise on your heart. After a technician places flat, sticky patches called electrodes on your chest, you’ll be asked to walk on a treadmill while your heart’s activity is measured.
Stress Echocardiography
Stress echocardiography uses ultrasound imaging to determine how well your heart muscle is pumping blood to your body. It’s mainly used to detect a decrease in blood flow to the heart, indicative of coronary artery disease.
Nuclear Stress Testing
A nuclear stress test shows how well blood flows into your heart muscle, both while at rest and while exercising. For the resting portion, you will have an IV started and a special camera will take pictures of your heart. For the exercise portion, you’ll
walk on a treadmill while your blood pressure and heart rhythm are monitored. This test can also be performed using a medication to mimic physical activity if you’re unable to exercise.
Dobutamine Stress Testing
Dobutamine stress testing is used when exercise stress testing is not an option, due to a medical condition. A doctor may use an IV medication called dobutamine to mimic the effects of exercise on the heart, causing it to beat faster. Then, ultrasonic
sound waves are used to create images of the heart walls and valves.
Elective Cardioversion
A cardioversion is a procedure that returns an irregularly beating heart (arrhythmia) back to a normal pattern using a carefully controlled electrical impulse that is delivered to the heart.
Diagnostic Right and Left Heart Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization involves passing a thin, flexible tube called a catheter into the right or left side of the heart, usually from the groin or the arm. From there, the doctor can assess many aspects of heart health, including the oxygen and blood
flow in various parts of the heart.
