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”