Health information

QUESTION: Could you please explain a bit about the tests that I may be facing
with a diagnosis of coronary heart disease? Do any of them cause pain, or are
they dangerous? I am more than a little anxious.

ANSWER: Coronary heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United
States
It is the most common form of heart disease, and since treatment is
based upon knowing the extent of your problem, testing is very important.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a condition in which the muscle tissue
of the heart is not receiving enough oxygen
The heart can not take any
oxygen from the blood that it pumps
It gets its own supply through the
coronary arteries, a set of arteries that encircle the heart and resemble a
crown (coronary means crown-like)
When these arteries become clogged,
blocked or narrowed, heart tissue dies from lack of oxygen, and a myocardial
infarction (or heart attack) occurs
Gradual narrowing or spasm of these
arteries causes the chest pain known as angina.
Your doctor will decide which tests to use to diagnose coronary heart
disease based on several factors, the most important of which is your
symptoms
If you feel chest pain on exertion or if you’ve suffered a heart
attack, your doctor will probably have you undergo several tests
Tests for
CAD fall into two general categories, noninvasive and invasive
Noninvasive
testing means that, except for some injections, nothing enters your body.
Invasive testing means that a catheter (a very small tube) is placed into a
vein or artery and used to inject a contrast medium (which shows up on x-ray),
or to measure pressures in the vessel
Invasive tests are more reliable than
noninvasive tests, but they are more expensive and carry some risk.
Noninvasive tests include stress or exercise testing, where you walk or
run on a treadmill while an electrocardiogram (ECG) is taken
Your doctor
will evaluate how your ECG changes as exercise stresses your heart
This is
an easy, relatively inexpensive test and will probably be the first you
undergo.
You may need additional tests that can give more information about the
condition of your heart
Some of these tests require an injection with small
amounts of radioactive materials
The amount of radioactivity is very low and
passes out of your body quickly.
In exercise echocardiography, your doctor will look at an ultrasound
picture of your heart as you exercise
Ultrasound works on the same principle
that sonar does and is quite safe.
Based on results from noninvasive tests, your physician may ask you to
undergo an invasive test for CAD
The most common one is cardiac
catheterization
A catheter is placed in a small blood vessel and, under
local anesthesia, is snaked along into your heart, where a great deal of
information about the way your heart pumps blood can be gathered
This
procedure is considered a minor operation and has some risks, but gives your
doctor the best information about your coronary arteries.
It may seem like a long and complicated process, and it is
Expensive
too
But it provides all the necessary information that helps the physician
help you choose the right therapy to fight your heart disease.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

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