Nuclear Stress Tests: A Giant Step In Cardiac Imaging
Patients with chest pain, shortness of breath or other early signs of heart disease may be given a "stress test" that involves state-of-the-art imaging of the heart without surgery. This common test is usually administered while you walk on a treadmill and slowly increase your level of exertion. Your blood pressure and your heart's electrical activity will be continually monitored by a doctor or nurse using tiny electrodes taped to your chest. About one minute before you reach your maximum exercise capacity, you may be injected with a small amount of a radioisotope that is absorbed by your heart and attaches to your red blood cells. You will then lie down for an X-ray. The radioisotope shows up as a bright area that allows your doctor to determine whether enough blood and oxygen are reaching your heart during maximum stress.
Cardiac Ultrasound: Technology Moving At The Speed Of Sound
This simple and painless technique uses sound waves to show doctors a two-dimensional picture of your heart at work. Like a stress test, this procedure is usually performed on patients exhibiting early signs of heart disease. Doctors can examine an ultrasound image of the structure of your heart and how it functions using color-flow mapping and Doppler techniques that will show how well the heart is pumping blood. In more complex cases, our physicians can use an ultrasound probe attached to a tube and placed into the esophagus. This procedure is called Transesophageal Echocardiograpy (TEE).
Cardiac Catheterization: Going Inside The Heart Itself
The Uniontown Hospital's Cardiac Care Center is a regional leader in the number of cardiac catheterizations performed every year. This procedure allows an invasive cardiologist to diagnose a variety of problems in the heart. Chest pain, valvular heart disease (determined by previous testing), heart attack or a suspicion of coronary artery or congenital heart disease are the most typical reasons why cardiac catheterization may be recommended. The term describes several different procedures, all of which involve the insertion of a very thin tube, or "catheter", into an artery in your arm or groin. When the catheter reaches its final destination in the heart, it injects a dye that can be picked up by an X-ray machine, giving the doctor a clear picture of the extent of the disease in the coronary arteries.
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