Diagnostic Testing

Illinois Heart and Vascular offers a full range of diagnostic testing.

Our echo lab is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission of the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL).

• Echocardiogram with Doppler - a complete assessment of cardiac structure and function, including screening for valvular heart disease and congenital abnormalities.
• Stress Echo with Doppler - combines treadmill testing with echocardiographic imaging of the heart to screen for stress-induced myocardial ischemia, the result of significant coronary artery blockages
• Dobutamine Stress Echo - a pharmacologic echocardiographic stress test for patients unable to ambulate adequately enough to perform standard treadmill stress testing
• Nuclear Imaging- Nuclear stress testing is a test that produces images of the heart following a small injection of a radioactive material. There is usually a "stress" component of the test as well. This will either be an injection or involve walking on a treadmill. This test is used to assess the function of your heart muscle and the blood perfusion to your heart
• Cardiac Catheterization- Utilizing long, flexible, hollow tubes, called catheters, cardiologists can deliver specialized catheters and medicines to diagnose and treat heart disease without surgery.
• Percutaneous Ttransluminal Coronary Angioplasty - also referred to as "angioplasty", "balloon dilation", or "PTCA". In this procedure, devices are inflated to compress the plaque against the artery wall allowing adequate restoration of blood flow through the artery.
• Coronary Stenting - a tiny metal mesh structure which comes in a variety of sizes and designs (which resembles a spring in a ball point pen) may be placed within the artery to hold it open.
• Drug-Eluting Stent - or DES, has become a standard interventional procedure. The drug-eluting stent is a bare metal stent that is coated with a drug formulation designed to inhibit plaque from "re-blocking" the artery.
• Atherectomy - uses a catheter-based device that actually removes the plaque. There are a number of different types that may shave or cut away the plaque and remove it from your artery.
• Rotational Atherectomy - a device that may be used if the plaque has become hardened or calcified. A diamond ‘burr’ rotates at extremely high speeds and "bores" through the plaque to pulverize the plaque into harmless microscopic particles that are then washed away by the blood.
• Calcium Scoring- Coronary artery calcification is often the first sign of a heart attack, and is a powerful risk indicator for your chances of developing heart attack. This coronary calcium buildup is detected quickly, easily, and painlessly with a CT Calcium Score- the IHAV Heart Scan. You will receive a score that indicates the extent of calcification of the hearts coronary arteries. If calcium buildup in your arteries is identified, early preventative therapy can be initiated.
• Cardiac and Peripheral Vascular CTA- CT Angiography is usually performed as an outpatient procedure. Physicians examine the arteries that travel to the lungs, heart, neck, kidneys, pelvis, and legs to check for blockages and other problems. Aneurysms in the aorta, brain, or other major blood vessels can be identified. Aortic problems such as dissection (where the layers of the artery peel away from each other), and the ability to check functioning stents (mesh tube used to restore blood flow to blocked arteries) are also identified.