diagnostic testing
At Tidewater Cardiovascular Institute, we provide a complete range of outpatient diagnostic testing in one convenient location.
- Echocardiogram
- Echocardiographic Stress Test
- Nuclear Stress Test
- EKG Stress Test
Echocardiogram
This simple, painless test takes about an hour and answers such questions about your heart as:
- How does it squeeze?
- Is it enlarged?
- Do the valves leak? How much?
- Do the walls contract normally?
- Is there evidence of circulatory insufficiency?
You lie comfortably on a bed while a technician moves a painless transducer over your chest, taking ultrasonic pictures of your heart muscle, valves and supporting structures that demonstrate the blood flow within your heart. The cardiologist will interpret your data at a later time.
Stress Tests
A stress test is performed to evaluate the circulation to the heart muscle. Evidence for inadequate blood flow may be revealed by monitoring the electrocardiogram as the demand for blood flow increases in response to excercise on a treadmill. Additional information may be obtained by comparing pictures of the contraction of the heart muscle obtained before and after exercise using an ultrasound machine (echocardiogram). An alternative method involves the injection of a harmless dose of a radioactive substance (nuclear test) into the blood stream and making pictures of the distribution of the radioactivity in the heart before and after exercise. Patients with limited ability to exercise may have the test performed with medication, the effect of which is similar to exercise.
Stress tests are quite safe; there is no cause for concern. You will receive a full description of the appropriate preparations at the time your test is scheduled.