Provided exainations
The aim of private health facilities CARDIOCONSULT is to provide the professional environment of high quality and specialized outpatient care with a focus in the field of cardiology and angiology. This objective we submit to the superior equipment department, which allows for comprehensive non-invasive cardiologic diagnosis and Angiology and includes the following diagnostic methods:
Laboratory blood sampling
Focus on cardiovascular risk profile
12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG)
This is a simple test to look at the electrical signals of the heart. 10 stickers are attached to the body; 6 across the chest and 1 to each limb. By looking at the electrical patterns that the heart generates then the electrical and muscle health of the heart can be examined.
An ECG may allow for both abnormal heart rhythms and damage to the heart to be detected. Thickening of the heart muscle secondary to high blood pressure can also be looked for.
However, a normal resting ECG does not rule out the possibility of heart disease and further testing may be needed.
24-48 ECG monitoring (Holter ECG)
Although an ECG can look at the heart rhythm and rate at a given time, it cannot pick up palpitations or heart rhythm problems that are experienced only intermittently. A 24-48 hour tape (also known as a Holter monitor) is able to look at the heart rhythm and rate for a prolonged period. This can help in diagnosing the cause of palpitations, dizziness or blackouts, which may either be due to fast or excessively slow heart rates. If the problem is not found during this assessment then further more prolonged tapes may be needed (occasionally up to 5 or 7 days).
6 stickers are attached to the chest and these are connected by thin leads to a small device the size of an ipod or small mobile phone. The patient is then able to walk around participating in normal daily activities whilst the heart is continuously monitored.
• Bicycle exercise stress – test
Although a resting ECG may be normal, this may change when the heart is put under stress. Patients with suspected coronary artery disease (due to ‘furring’ up of the coronary arteries) need to have their ECG examined under stress to see if abnormalities of the ECG suggesting poor blood supply can be provoked. The test is terminated when the target heart rate is achieved (between 85-90% predicted), when abnormalities are seen, or at the patient's request (if undue symptoms are experienced).
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring
The diagnosis of hypertension (elevated blood pressure) should only be made after the finding of at least 2 or 3 raised blood pressure recordings on separate days. Often, however it is difficult to exclude white coat syndrome, when the blood pressure is generally fine, but is raised in the clinic setting due to a stress response to doctors/clinics.
In order to clarify this issue, and also to help look for the response to treatment in patients with true hypertension, it is helpful to record the blood pressure over a 24 hour period. During this test you are fitted with a blood pressure cuff that you take home and wear for the next day and night.
Throughout the recording the cuff becomes tight every 15 minutes (or every 30 minutes overnight) to allow an accurate assessment of the blood pressure in a relaxed home setting and throughout a 24 hour period.
Echocardiograpgy (Echo scan)
An ultrasound of the heart uses sound waves bounced off the heart to build up a picture of both the structure and function of the heart. The test is harmless and uses the same technique as is used to look at babies during pregnancy. The echo images are then reviewed by a cardiologist to see if there are any abnormalities within the heart muscle (poor function or abnormal thickening), valves (narrowing or leakage) , etc.
PM , ICD and CRT programming and check- ups
The specialits positions a head of the programming machine over the place where the device is impanted and reads the stored data to get an overview of the electrical activity of the heart with possibility of programming the features of the device.