Cardiovascular Diagnosis & Screening

Take charge of your well-being with sophisticated screenings and diagnostic tests for your heart and blood vessels at Mount Auburn Hospital.

Screenings help reveal your risk of heart attack, stroke or another condition before you experience symptoms. If a screening reveals an abnormality, or you notice signs of a cardiovascular condition, diagnostic tools pinpoint the cause. Then, your doctor can recommend personalized treatments that keep you as healthy as possible.

Extensive Heart & Vascular Tests

Your physician may advise you to get a test such as:

• Cardiac catheterization - looks inside your blood vessels to determine whether you have coronary artery disease
• Echocardiogram – Uses sound waves to create pictures of your heart
• Electrocardiogram (EKG) – Attaches painless electrodes to your skin to measure your heart’s electrical signals
  • Holter monitor – Acts like a portable EKG that you wear for a day or two so it can continuously monitor your heart’s electrical activity
  • Event monitor – Worn over time and records your heart’s electrical signals only when you experience symptoms
• Stress test – Uses exercise or medication to speed up your heartbeat so doctors can measure how your heart responds
  • Nuclear stress test – Gives you an injection of a mildly radioactive dye that shows up on a special camera and reveals where blood flows in your heart as you exercise
• Electrophysiology study – Threads a thin wire through your blood vessels up to your heart to record its activity
• Tilt table test – Asks you to lie on a flat table that then tilts so doctors can measure your heart’s response and see whether you faint
• Vascular studies – Use noninvasive methods, including Doppler ultrasound, to measure blood flow in your arteries and veins