Non invasive cardiovascular diagnostic testing

1. Trans-thoracic 2D Echocardiography : This test uses sound waves to obtain moving pictures of the heart. A machine generates these sound waves, called ultrasound, and then listens for the return of these sounds as they bounce back from the walls and valves of the heart, in the same way you would listen for an echo bouncing back to your ears from a distant cliff. The machine interprets the sounds to create a picture of your heart on a monitor. 
2. Nuclear Medicine scans : This method is a way of checking blood flow through the muscle or walls of your heart. A tracer (small amount of radioactive matter) is given to you through a vein in your arm. A camera scans the tracer in your blood as it flows through your heart muscle. Also called a perfusion scan.
3. Stress Test: A stress test, sometimes called a treadmill test or exercise test, helps your doctor find out how well your heart handles work. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more fuel and your heart has to pump more blood. The test can show if there’s a lack of blood supply through the arteries that go to the heart.
4. 64 Slice CT scanner : Coronary CT angiography is a type of computed tomography (CT) that focuses imaging on the heart, its vessel walls and surrounding structures. This test is performed in our CT office and is a less-invasive alternative that can sometimes be used instead of traditional testing that requires the insertion of a catheter for injecting dye into the body. This technology is for the first time capable of reliably identifying coronary artery disease in its earliest stage, before stress testing becomes positive and more importantly before complications such as heart attacks and sudden cardiac death can occur.
   Early diagnosis followed by an aggressive approach to reducing risk of disease progression with medical therapy and/or coronary angioplasty can and will save lives. Within seconds, our 64-slice CT can perform a noninvasive coronary angiogram where we can detect both soft and calcified plaque in coronary arteries.
   Coronary CT angiography is a valuable tool that can detect the early onset of heart disease, evaluate heart wall motion and function, measure the widths of arteries and detect and measure blockage inside those arteries. Doctors can also use this technology to check the condition of stents and grafts that are already in place.

Coronary Artery Disease Evaluation 

1. Electrocardiography : An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical activity of the heart over time. Analysis of the various waves and normal vectors of depolarization and repolarization  yields important diagnostic information.   
                
               Example of an ECG or EKG
   
   
2. Echocardiography : The echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. Using standard ultrasound techniques, two-dimensional slices of the heart can be imaged.
3. SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging:  The test involves an injection of a small amount of radioactive material which circulates in the bloodstream and shows if your heart muscle is receiving adequate blood supply under stress and/or rest conditions. The radioactive injection is a clear liquid called MYOVIEW (Tc99m Tetrofosmin for injection).

Evaluation of carotid, renal and peripheral vascular disease

1. Ankle - Brachial index: This test is done by measuring blood pressure at the ankle and in the arm while a person is at rest. Measurements are then repeated at both sites after 5 minutes of walking on a treadmill.  The ankle-brachial index (ABI) result is used to predict the severity of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).  
2. Comprehensive Vascular Duplex Ultrasound : Duplex ultrasound combines Doppler and conventional ultrasound to allow physicians to see the structure of your blood vessels. Duplex ultrasound shows how blood is flowing through your vessels and measures the speed of the flow of blood.  It can also be useful to estimate the diameter of a blood vessel as well as the amount of obstruction, if any, in the blood vessel.