If you happen to need them, these are just some of our services:

Cardiac and Peripheral Vascular Angiography

Doctors use x-ray equipment and small tubular catheters to create accurate pictures of the inside of blood vessels feeding the heart and other parts of the body. Non-invasive angiography can also be performed with CT scanning (computed tomography) and MR imaging (magnetic resonance).

Cardiac CT Imaging

Cardiac CT Imaging is a recent advance in CT (computed tomography) where non-invasive imaging of the heart and its coronary arteries can be performed without the use of catheters. This new technology brings promise of widespread early detection of atherosclerosis, but some insurance companies remain reluctant to provide coverage limiting its use in younger patients.

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is also known as coronary angioplasty or simply angioplasty. This is a therapeutic procedure which uses catheters, balloons and stents to open vessels that have severe cholesterol blockage. The procedure is typically performed by an interventional cardiologist and does not require surgery.

Drug Eluting Stent Placement

A drug eluting stent is a coronary stent used to expand and open a narrowed artery of the heart. The stent is coated with a medication that slowly treats the vessel wall to prevent return of the blockage.

Peripheral Intervention

When a blocked artery is discovered in the body, the procedure to open it and restore blood flow is called peripheral intervention. Many techniques are now used including balloon angioplasty, stenting, laser and atherectomy to open arteries.

Pacemaker/Defibrillator Implantation

Placement of a pacemaker or defibrillator is a surgical procedure to place the small electronic device, which corrects slow or fast heart rhythms, beneath the skin. The procedure requires only sedation and is therefore safer than surgeries which require general anesthesia.

Conditions, Services, and Testing

Heart Partners offers help for a variety of cardiovascular conditions including:

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

Coronary Artery Disease is a condition where cholesterol rich plaque builds up inside the vessels which supply the heart muscle with oxygenated blood. If this flow is obstructed, it can cause blood clots and eventually a heart attack. As the leading cause of death in the U.S., CAD progresses for decades before its symptoms appear.

Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)

Peripheral Arterial Disease is a condition where plaque build up clogs the arteries supplying the legs and other parts of the body. Reduced blood flow to the legs usually causes symptoms of leg tiredness, aching and sometimes burning pain with walking.

A condition affecting 25 million Americans where the veins in the legs weaken and bulge.

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

Congestive Heart Failure is a condition where the heart has lost a percentage of its pumping strength. This causes reduced blood flow to the body’s organs and is a common cause of shortness of breath and swelling of the legs and abdomen. About 400,000 people are diagnosed with CHF each year. It is a very treatable cardiac disorder.

Cardiac Arrhythmias

Cardiac arrhythmias are a malfunction of the heart’s electrical system causing the heart to beat too rapidly or too slowly. Symptoms of cardiac arrhythmia include sudden excessive fatigue, palpitations, weakness or loss of consciousness. Any symptom of cardiac arrhythmia requires immediate medical attention.

Pacemakers/Defibrillators

Pacemakers and defibrillators are electronic devices implanted under the skin to help patients with the most life threatening forms of arrhythmia and congestive heart failure. They correct slow heart rates, severe rapid heart rates and the pumping efficiency of the heart.

Elevated Cholesterol

Elevated cholesterol is a general reference to elevated fats (lipids) in the blood stream, referred to as hyperlipidemia. An elevated cholesterol is one of the risk factors associated with CAD and PAD. Elevated cholesterol is not a disease, but it is a metabolic disorder which requires long term treatment with diet, exercise and medication.

Heart Partners also offers multiple full-service testing centers:

Treadmills

Treadmill exams are exercise stress tests that use a treadmill machine with progressive increases in the speed of walking and the elevation of incline to assess how healthy your heart is.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is an imaging test which uses ultrasound in a noninvasive way to create motion pictures of the cardiac muscle and cardiac valves. Doppler evaluation, when added to the echo exam, studies blood flow direction within the heart and can detect valve obstruction, regurgitation or defects in the heart muscle.

Cardiolite (nuclear medicine study, Myoview)

Cardiolite refers to the addition of a nuclear medicine (radiopharmaceutical) to a treadmill test or other stress test. The nuclear medicine concentrates in active heart muscle and can uncover obstruction in the coronary arteries caused by plaque.

Stress Echo

A stress echo combines a treadmill and the echocardiogram into one procedure. An echo is performed while the patient is relaxed and then a second echo is performed immediately following a treadmill. Comparing the rest and stress echo side by side can uncover muscle malfunction caused by an obstructed coronary artery.

Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE)

Many times defects of the heart are so subtle that they cannot be uncovered by an echo performed on the outside of the chest. Transesophageal echo allows the patient to “swallow” the ultrasound probe and this provides dramatically improved imaging of the cardiac structures. This test uses medications to sedate and relax the patient preventing discomfort.

Tilt Table

A tilt table is used to diagnose sudden severe lightheadedness or episodes of lost consciousness. The patient reclines on a bed with a foot plate and safety belts. After a period of relaxation, the bed is tilted forward, placing the patient in a standing position. Sudden drops in blood pressure or heart rate can be uncovered with this test.

Holter Monitors

A holter monitor diagnoses heart rhythm disorders that may be occurring on a daily basis. The patient carries an ECG monitor connected to electrodes on the chest. The device is worn for one 24 hour period and records every single heart beat for the 24 hour period. The recorder is returned for analysis on the following day.

Event Recorders

Like a holter monitor, an event monitor involves wearing ECG leads attached to the chest and is used to diagnose heart rhythm disorders that may occur in a sporadic way. Typically the monitor is connected for a 30 day period. The patient changes their own leads on the chest daily and the heart rhythm analysis and transmission of information occurs via telephone from the device to a receiving center.