Heart Investigation Tests

Heart specific Advance Blood tests:

Some special blood tests detect any heart muscle damage or weakness. There are various other blood tests for cholesterol, sugar, electrolytes and also for identifying blood cells morphology, coagulation factors as well as tests for thyroid, kidney and liver functions and other systems. With satisfactory results of all these tests there could be a clean bill of health on first visit or might need some treatment to achieve that for complete protection.

Blood samples usually taken from a vein in the arm and a quick process and then the results will be discussed thoroughly.

Electrocardiogram (ECG):

An ECG will provide very important first line information about heart’s rate and rhythm and if there is any risk of sudden slow or fast irregular heat beats or if there are any heart muscle damage caused by any heart attack. This is a vital first test, takes few minutes, painless and requires no anaesthesia.

Small sticky pads are put on chest, arms and legs. The leads are attached to an ECG machine, which records Heart’s electrical impulses and prints them out on paper.

Longer ECG Tests

This is done with attached leads for few days to weeks. This also done using small temporary implantable device, which can monitor heart rhythm for months or more.

Exercise ECG stress test

This test involves series of ECG done during exercise usually on a treadmill. It helps to find out how well heart works when a person is physically active or doing exercise.

Echocardiogram with Transoesophageal and Stress Echo:

An echocardiogram is a common test. It shows moving pictures of heart generated by reflecting ultrasound, a type of sound wave via a probe on chest or down the throat.

It helps check if there are any problems with heart’s muscles, valves and heart chambers, and how strongly heart pumps blood. Stress echocardiography detects any heart muscle weakness or damage from heart attack or other heart muscle disease and the function of the heart with more clarity.

Nuclear cardiology tests:

There are many variety of Nuclear cardiac tests.

A radioactive substance called a ‘tracer’ is injected into bloodstream. It goes to heart and releases energy. Special cameras take picture of this energy from your body.

This test provides detailed and complex information about how much blood flows to heart muscle and how well heart pumps blood at resting and during physical activity. This test detects if the heart muscle is damaged by heart attack or whether the heart muscle is getting lack of blood supply, which is called myocardial ischaemia that causes chest pain called angina.

Coronary angiography

A coronary angiogram directly visualises any blockage in coronary arteries, which can potentially cause heart attack or angina. However, heart attack and angina can still occur with silent cardiac diseases where the coronary angiogram can be normal and in such cases other tests are necessary.

A cardiac catheter is a small rubber tube guided into an artery in the groin, arm or wrist. The catheter is moved up inside the artery until it reaches coronary vessels of your heart. A special dye is injected into your coronary arteries and an X-ray is taken.

The X-ray cine image shows how much coronary arteries are clogged or blocked. It also shows how well heart is pumping. Coronary angiogram may not always give full information so other tests may be required to confirm the diagnosis or right treatment.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

An MRI uses very strong magnets and radio waves to create detailed images of your heart on a computer. It can take still or moving pictures of heart. Sometimes a special dye is used to make parts of the heart and coronary arteries easier to see.

This test shows the structure of heart and how well it is working, to decide appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

Computed tomography Coronary angiogram (CTCA)

This is a specialised type of computed tomography (CT) scan of the heart that is used to diagnose coronary artery disease and coronary blockage. This test produces almost same information as obtained by coronary angiogram but it is a non-invasive test so has some more advantage over invasive tests. However a cardiac catheter coronary angiogram may still be necessary prior to any intervention.