Cardiology

Cardiology Services at North Shore Medical Center

Heart Care Testing

• 30 Day Event Recorders: small portable devices worn by a patient during normal activity for up to 30 days. The device has a recording system capable of storing several minutes of your electrocardiogram (EKG) record. Cardiac event monitors have primarily been used to diagnose and evaluate cardiac arrhythmias.
• 24-Hour Holter Monitors: battery-operated ECG devices, which monitor and record the heart's electrical activity for 24 hours.
• Arterial Vascular Study Lower Extremity: involves inflating blood pressure cuffs on the legs while recording the pulse sounds through a Doppler transducer. Dobutamine stress testing with echocardiography imaging or nuclear imaging Dobutamine is a medication used to facilitate cardiac testing by chemically increasing the heart rate for those who are unable to walk on a treadmill. Nuclear imaging uses a radioactive substance that travels through the vessels to highlight areas of decreased or normal blood flow.
• Dobutamine Stress Test with Echocardiography Imaging or Nuclear Imaging: dobutamine is a medication used to facilitate cardiac testing by chemically increasing the heart rate for those who are unable to walk on a treadmill. Nuclear imaging uses a radioactive substance that travels through the vessels to highlight areas of decreased or normal blood flow.
• Echocardiogram (EEG): uses sound waves to produce images of your heart. This commonly used test allows your doctor to see how your heart is beating and pumping blood.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG): a test in which electrodes on the chest are used to monitor and record the electrical activity of the heart.
• Exercise Stress Test: sometimes called a treadmill test, this helps your doctor find out how well your heart handles work. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more oxygen, so the heart must pump more blood. The test can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply the heart.
• Lexiscan Stress Test: lexiscan is a prescription medication used in a cardiac nuclear stress test. It works by increasing blood flow in the coronary arteries. Lexiscan is given by IV in preparation for a myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) test. This uses a special camera to take pictures of your heart, giving your doctor detailed information about blood flow into your heart.
• Trans-Esophageal Echocardiogram (TEE): uses high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to make detailed pictures of your heart and the arteries that lead to and from it. Unlike a standard echocardiogram, the echo transducer that produces the sound waves for TEE is attached to a thin tube that passes through your mouth and into your esophagus.

Heart Care Treatments

• Angioplasty: procedure that uses a balloon to widen narrowed arteries.
• Artificial Heart Valve Surgery: involves replacing an abnormal or diseased heart valve with an artificial one.
• Atherectomy: procedure in which excess plaque is cut from an artery using a rotating shaver.
• Bypass Surgery: involves creating alternative paths for blood flow to the heart using arteries and veins from other parts of the body.
• Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery: performed through small incisions as an alternative to open heart surgery.
• Stent Procedure: involves installing a wire mesh tube into a narrowed coronary artery to keep it open. It is often used in conjunction with an angioplasty procedure.

At North Shore Medical Center, we strive to provide the best care possible. We’ve received recognition for our efforts to meet high medical benchmarks:

• The American Heart Association honored North Shore Medical Center with the Get with the Guidelines Gold Plus Performance Quality Achievement Awards for Heart Failure Treatment.