If you have symptoms such as discomfort in your chest, shortness of breath, or irregular heartbeats, we may schedule heart tests to find out if you are at risk for a heart problem, and what treatment you may need. Even healthy people without symptoms may need heart tests if a personal history or physical examination points to risk for a heart problem.
Talk to us if you experiencing symptoms.
- What causes heart disease and stroke?
Non-invasive tests
Non-invasive tests do not require a doctor to insert a device into your body. You may need an injection of a medicine during the test. Many of these tests are imaging tests that provide still or moving pictures of your heart.
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- A Cardiac blood pool scan checks for problems with blood flow or structure of the heart
- A Cardiac CT scan checks for coronary artery disease.
- A Cardiac MRI scan checks the pumping action of the heart or the structure of the heart
- A Cardiac perfusion scan checks for coronary artery disease and damage caused by a heart attack
- An Echocardiogram checks for signs of diseases that affect the walls, valves and chambers of the heart.
- An Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) checks your heart’s rhythm, or your pacemaker.
- An Exercise EKG checks for abnormal changes in your heart during exercise.
Invasive tests
Invasive tests require a doctor to insert a tube called a catheter into blood vessels in your body.
- Cardiac catheterization
- Checks blood flow and blood pressure in the chambers of the heart
- Checks how well the heart valves work
- Checks for problems in the structure of the heart
- Checks how well the walls of the heart move
- Coronary angiogram
- Checks for narrowing or blockages
- Checks blood flow
Do you need a heart test?
Talk to us about your symptoms. We will assess your medical history, and we will decide together if a test is right for you.
Routine electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG):
Friends may advise that “screening” EKGs can protect your health. “Screening” means having a test when you don’t have any symptoms. If you are healthy and have no symptoms of heart disease, a test may not be appropriate. Even if you are a heart patient, a routine EKG just isn’t needed as long as you have no new symptoms and you see your doctor several times a year.
Exercise EKG
If you’re healthy and have no symptoms of heart disease, you can say “no” to this test, often called a stress test or treadmill test. In younger people who don’t have symptoms of heart disease, an exercise EKG can actually cause needless worry. This is because it can show that you have heart problems when you really don’t.
Echo
An echocardiogram isn’t recommended as a routine test if you are healthy, have no heart problems, and have a low risk for heart disease. If you have coronary artery disease, you probably don’t need this test unless you have new symptoms. It’s not helpful for patients with mild heart murmurs. But if you have certain heart problems, like a valve disease or heart failure, your doctor needs to check your heart regularly with this test.
Exercise echo
This test isn’t recommended if you’re healthy and have no symptoms of heart disease.
Imaging tests
An imaging test, such as a cardiac perfusion scan, is not recommended before a surgery that is not being done on your heart and has a low risk of problems. An example is a cataract surgery.