Diagnostic and Invasive Cardiology

The first step in determining the cause of troubling, heart-related symptoms, such as chest pain, or understanding your risk for a heart attack or another cardiac condition is an accurate diagnosis. In partnership with the McKenzie Heart, Lung and Vascular Center, McKenzie Heart Group offers a variety of diagnostic and invasive cardiology services, including implantation of devices to treat arrhythmia and heart failure.

Diagnostic Cardiology

• Cardioversion. This procedure is used to treat arrhythmias. A physician will use electrodes or paddles to send an electrical signal to the heart that interrupts the arrhythmia and prompts the muscle to return to a normal rhythm.
• Coronary angiography. This procedure can identify blockages in the arteries of the heart. A physician will make a puncture in your groin or wrist, insert a catheter and send it to the heart using X-ray guidance. After injecting dye into the catheter, the physician will watch how the dye moves through the arteries to look for blockages.
• Electrocardiography. An electrocardiogram (EKG) is a test that uses electrodes placed on the body to gather information about the heart’s electrical activity. The test can help diagnose heart disease or an arrhythmia.
• Peripheral angiography. A peripheral angiogram is a test that can show whether your arms or legs are receiving enough blood. Working through a puncture in your groin, a physician will inject dye into a catheter and watch it move through the arteries of the extremities using X-ray. The movement of the dye helps the physician identify blockages or narrowing that may need treatment.
• Stress echocardiography. This test uses images obtained while you exercise to help your cardiologist understand how well your heart is working and how much blood it’s getting. During the test, you’ll walk on a treadmill as the rate of speed and incline slowly increase. At the same time, an ultrasound machine will take images of your heart at work, which can help your cardiologist pinpoint the cause of unexplained symptoms, such as chest pain, or diagnose coronary artery disease.
• Transesophageal echocardiography. Using sound waves produced by a probe that goes down your throat to the esophagus, transesophageal echocardiography produces images of the heart to help a cardiologist assess its pumping ability and the function of its valves, among other things.

Device Placement

• CardioMEMs^™ HF System implantation. CardioMEMs is a tiny sensor that’s implanted in an artery of the heart via a catheter. If you have heart failure, CardioMEMs enables your cardiologist to monitor you remotely for early signs that the condition is worsening. That allows him or her to adjust your treatment so you can avoid a visit to the hospital.
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator is a small device that rests under the skin below the collarbone. It can help prevent cardiac arrest or sudden death if you have a dangerous type of arrhythmia. Implanted during a minor procedure, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator can send an electric shock to your heart via electrodes if the muscle enters a dangerous arrhythmia. That shock can jolt the heart back into a normal rhythm. Certain implantable cardioverter defibrillators can also act as pacemakers.
• Pacemaker placement. A pacemaker is an electronic device that rests in the chest and can help regulate your heart rhythm. If you have an arrhythmia, a pacemaker can send electric pulses through electrodes to the heart. Those signals help the heart return to a normal rhythm. A surgeon can implant a pacemaker during a minor procedure.