Diagnostic Cardiac Testing
Through the advanced testing facilities in the Joel E. Smilow Heart Institute at Bridgeport Hospital, your physicians can learn all about your heart's condition, often without the need for an overnight stay. Nuclear medicine tests, peripheral vascular testing, stress tests electrocardiograms, exercise stress tests, Holter monitoring and echocardiograms are just some of the procedures available.
Diagnostic Testing Sites
If your physician suspects that your chest pain is caused by a narrowing of the blood vessels of the heart, you may undergo cardiac catheterization in one of Bridgeport Hospital's state-of-the-art digital cardiac catheterization laboratories. Using the latest technology, cardiologists inject dye into the arteries to see if and where there is a blockage. Pictures taken during catheterizations help cardiologists plan the best course of treatment. This procedure is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Patients who undergo a cardiac catheterization at Bridgeport Hospital are usually discharged that same day.
Peripheral Vascular Testing and Interventions
Your physician may recommend peripheral vascular testing to examine the blood flow in your arms and legs. The Joel E. Smilow Heart Institute provides angiography or arteriography to check for blockages or narrow passages in the veins and arteries. These tests use a special dye and x-rays to highlight any blockages. This “road map” of the arteries serves as a guide for further treatment or surgery. If blockages are discovered during testing, specialists such as vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists or invasive cardiologists can perform angioplasty or stent placement at the same time.
With a pediatric cardiologist on staff, Bridgeport Hospital also performs diagnostic procedures for children with heart disease, and can treat arrhythmias and congestive heart failure in children, reducing the family's need to travel to distant treatment centers.