Diagnostic Care
The pediatric cardiac center at Miller Children’s offers extensive diagnostics in order to accurately diagnose and treat each patient. Comprehensive cardiology diagnostic care includes:
Fetal echocardiography is an ultrasound test that uses sound waves to study the structure of a baby’s heart before birth. If a cardiac malformation is suspected by a prenatal ultrasound or if a woman has an increased risk of having a baby with congenital heart disease, she should get a fetal echocardiogram.
An echocardiogram is an ultrasound test that uses sound waves to create a picture of the child’s heart and its circulation to check for narrowing of the aorta.
An Electrocardiogram (EKG) is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. An electrical impulse travels through the heart with each beat. The electrical pulse causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart.
A treadmill stress test, helps a doctor find out how well the child’s heart handles exercise. As the child’s 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. It also helps pediatric cardiologists know the level of exercise appropriate for a patient.
A 24-hour holter monitor is a machine that continuously records the heart's rhythms, within a 24-hour time period, during normal activity. Electrodes are stuck to the chest and attached to a small recording monitor that records the heart's electrical activity to document any irregular heart rhythms. Sometimes the cardiologist will ask a patient to keep a diary of activities while wearing the monitor.
Event recorders use a circular tape that stores only 30 seconds of a patient's most recent heart rhythm. When the patient experiences a symptom, such as a heart palpitation or an irregular heart beat/pace, the child presses a button that freezes the recording. The recording is then transmitted by telephone to an interpreting center.
Cardiac imaging techniques and technologies, such as Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Cardiac Computed Tomography (CT), allow pediatric cardiologists to take a closer look at the heart and great vessels at little risk to the patient.
Diagnostic heart catheterization
Diagnostic cardiac catheterization is a heart test, where soft, thin plastic catheters (tubes) are placed in the large blood vessels, usually in the leg or groin area, and passed through arteries or veins carefully to the heart. Once the catheters are positioned in the various heart chambers or blood vessels, pressure measurements and blood samples inside the heart can be taken. Also, an angiography can be performed, where contrast or dye (radiographic contrast material) can be injected so pictures of the heart can be taken through an x-ray. Children are usually under local anesthesia during this test.
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