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In keeping with its mission to provide high quality medical care to its communities, Bassett Healthcare has developed the Bassett Heart Care Institute to provide comprehensive coronary and cardiac care in a more integrated and patient-focused fashion. The Bassett Heart Care Institute provides specialty cardiac care services and surgeries that are advanced for this region. The Heart Institute is staffed by a team of highly skilled and experienced physicians, nurses and technicians provided with state-of-the-art equipment and technology. | |
Full-Service Digital Echocardiography
Stress Testing
- Treadmill (Exercise) Testing
- Nuclear Stress Imaging
Electrophysiology
Cardiac Catheterization
- Coronary Angiography
- Hemodynamic Measurements
Full-Service Digital Echocardiography
Transthoracic Echocardiogram - This procedure is a test that uses sound waves to create a picture of the heart in order to examine its size, shape and motion. It is useful in diagnosing heart valve dysfunction and to assess how strong the heart is beating, as well as for demonstrating fluid collections around the heart and looking at congenital abnormalities. The procedure is easily performed in either a clinic or in the hospital by rubbing a probe over the chest.
Transesophageal Echocardiogram - The transesophageal echocardiogram takes pictures of the heart from within the esophagus in order to offer better views than can be assessed with the probe on the chest. The throat is numbed with medication to enable the patient to swallow a tube with a tiny 'sonic camera' at its end. It usually takes less than an hour, after which patients are allowed to go home.
Stress Echocardiogram - During a stress echocardiogram, patients are asked to either briefly exercise or to take a medication which mimics exercise for the heart in order to monitor how well the heart performs before, during and after exercise. The views provided by the echocardiogram may be used to determine if portions of the heart are not receiving enough blood and are at risk for a heart attack.
Stress Testing
Treadmill (Exercise) Testing - There are several different types of stress tests. The most common stress test, also known as a treadmill test, is a recording of the electrical activity of the heart during physical stress, or exercise, and tests the heart's reaction to stress, or the increased demand for oxygen. Patches, or electrodes, are placed on the chest and attached to the stress machine by wires to allow the stress machine to record the heart's electrical activity while the patient walks on the treadmill. Heart rate, blood pressure, EKG and symptoms are monitored during this test.
Electrophysiology
Standard 12-lead Electrocardiogram (EKG) - This is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heart. Patches or electrodes are places on the chest and attached to the EKG machine by thin wires to allow the EKG machine to record the heartÃs electrical activity in a waveform. The EKG helps the physician to assess the presence of either an old or an impending heart attack, and to better diagnose abnormal rhythms (arrhythmias) of the heart.
Holter Monitoring and Event Recording - A holter monitor continuously records the electrical activity of the heart (or the heart rhythm) during normal activity for a 24-hour period. Patches, or electrodes, are placed on the chest and attached to a small heart-recording monitor by thin wires. At the completion of the 24-hour period, the monitor is returned to the physicians and reviewed for arrhythmias. Sometimes patients are asked to keep the monitor on for a longer time, or to record any abnormal sensations they feel while the monitor is on, to see if the sensations are related to arrhythmias. This is known as event recording.
Cardiac Pacemaker Implantation and Monitoring - Cardiologists at Bassett are skilled in placing pacemakers in the heart to help those with either slow heartbeats or abnormal electrical conduction through the heart. These pacemakers may then be monitored to accurate function either in Bassett Outpatient Clinics or over the telephone.
Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac cathetherization is a common, non-surgical procedure that allows the cardiologist to study the vessels of the heart and the function of the heart and its valves. During the procedure, a catheter (a thin, flexible, narrow tube) is inserted through a small needle incision in an artery or vein located in the groin or arm and is monitored via x-ray as it is threaded through the main blood vessel leading into the heart. During coronary angiography, contrast dye is injected through the catheter into the coronary arteries to increase visibility of the vessels while images are recorded. Other catheter tests, which measure blood pressures in the heart chambers, blood flow through the valves and muscle function, can reveal tightened valves and congenital abnormalities.
