An accurate diagnosis is the first step in treating any sort of heart abnormality or disease. There are a number of ways doctors at the CardioVascular Institute of North Colorado can diagnose heart ailments and select the best method of treatment. The following tests are frequently performed at this hospital. For each method there are several different approaches. It is best to speak with your doctor to determine what specific testing you need.
BioZ Impedance Cardiography (ICG)
A noninvasive test performed exclusively at the Heart Failure Clinic that provides your physician information about your heart's ability to deliver blood to the rest of your body, the force your heart has to pump against with each heartbeat and the amount of fluid in your chest.
Cardiac Catheterization
A diagnostic cardiac catheterization is a special study of the heart which allows the physician to see the chambers, valves or coronary arteries. A doctor guides a thin plastic tube or catheter through an artery or vein in the arm or groin. This allows the doctor to take a better look at the patient’s heart and blood vessels.
Computed Tomography (CT or CAT Scan)
The CT scanner creates 3-dimensional images of the heart and the coronary arteries in just five heartbeats, allowing cardiologists to look at the heart's action with unprecedented clarity and quality.
Echocardiography
During an echocardiogram, also called an echo, a technician uses a painless technique to send sound waves into the patient’s chest. This produces a moving picture of the heart and heart valves. Common procedures include Echocardiogram and Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE).
Electrocardiography (ECG)
Also called EKG, an electrocardiogram measures the electrical activity in a heartbeat. Patients can be hooked to electrodes or wear a heart monitor (a small box that weighs less than one pound). The monitoring devices send signals to a technician that observes the heart rate and rhythm. Common 12-lead procedures include Holter monitors and Event Recorders.
Nuclear Imaging
Nuclear medicine is a unique type of medical imaging that uses very small and safe amounts of radioactive materials in conjunction with a specialized camera to diagnose and treat disease. Heart scans are most often used to image blood flow to, and the function of, the heart.
Treadmill Stress Testing
Stress/exercise testing involves studying the heart while under maximum cardiac stress. It allows a technician to measure the heart's efficiency when subjected to predetermined exercise or cardiac medications. Patients may walk on a treadmill or lie still under a camera depending on how the physician wants to see their heart function. Common procedures include stress test (exercise tolerance test); stress test with Nuclear Medicine; stress test with Echocardiography; pharmacological stress test (drug study).