CARDIOVASCULAR DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES
by Nadia Abdulallah
Different types of diagnostic tests and procedures are used
to determine if a person has
cardiovascular disease, the type of
disease, the severity, and the most
effective treatment methods.
CARDIAC ENZYMES
It is a blood test to determine the level of enzymes such as creatine
phosphokinase (CPK); lactate dehydrogenase (LDH); glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and the protein troponin (TnT)
specific to heart muscles in the blood. Low levels of these enzymes and
proteins are normally found in your blood, but if your heart muscle is
injured, such as from a heart attack (myocardial infarction), the enzymes and proteins leak out of damaged heart
muscle cells, and their levels in the bloodstream rise.
WHY IT IS DONE? Determine whether you are having a heart attack or a threatened heart attack (Ustable angina) if you have chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, and abnormal electrocardiography results. Check for injury to the heart after bypass surgery. Determine if a procedure, such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or a medicine to dissolve the blockage (thrombolytic medicine) has successfully restored blood flow through a blocked coronary artery.
HOW IS IT DONE?
The blood sample is taken from a vein in your arm by the health professional…
STRESS TESTING
It is a method for evaluating cardiovascular fitness. The patient
is placed on a treadmill or a bicycle and then subjected to
steadily increasing levels of work. An EKG and oxygen levels are
taken while the patient exercises. The test is stopped if
abnormalities occur on the EKG. Also called an exercise test or a
treadmill test.
STRESS TESTING
EKG (ELECTROCARDIOGRA
PHY)-
WHAT IS EKG ???
EKG (Electrocardiogram) is a
transthoracic interpretation of the
electrical activity of the heart over time captured
and externally recorded by skin electrodes
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY
It is noninvasive (doesn't involve breaking the skin or entering body cavities)
diagnostic method using ultrasound to visualize internal cardiac structures. It uses standard ultrasound techniques to
image two-dimensional slices of the heart. The latest ultrasound systems now
employ 3D real-time imaging.
THE PURPOSE OF ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY
It is one of the most widely used diagnostic tests for cardiovascular disease. It can provide a wealth
of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart, its pumping capacity and the location and extent of any damage to its tissues. It is especially useful for assessing
diseases of the heart valves. It not only allows doctors to evaluate the heart valves, but it can
detect abnormalities in the pattern of blood flow, such as the backward flow of blood through partly
closed heart valves, known as regurgitation.
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY
“KIWI IS ANOTHER GOOD SOURCE OF FIBER SO IT CAN HELP LOWER CHOLESTEROL LEVELS, WHICH CAN REDUCE
THE RISK OF THE HEART DISEASE AND HEART ATTACK”