1. Echocardiogram
An echocardiogram is a real-time moving picture of a functioning heart made by using sound waves (ultrasound) to generate images. Echocardiograms use the same noninvasive technology used to examine the fetus during pregnancy. It can show how well heart chambers and heart valves are functioning (for example, effective or poor pumping action, blood flow through the valves), before and after treatments, as well as other features.
Heart Disease Treatment
Here is a list of treatment that are available right now in all the reputing hospitals.
2. EKG (Electrocardiogram)
The heart's electrical activity can be seen with an EKG (also termed ECG or electrocardiogram). EKGs are tests that provide important information to the physician about the heart rhythm, damage to the heart, or a heart attack, and may provide several other important pieces of information or clues to the patient's condition. In addition, EKGs can be compared to past and future EKGs to see changes in the heart's electrical activity over time or after treatments.
3. Stress Test
A stress test measures the ability of a person's heart to respond to the body's demand for more blood during stress (exercise or work). A continual measurement of the heart's electrical activity (a continual EKG or rhythm strip) is recorded along with the heart rate and blood pressure as a person's stress (exercise) is gradually increased on a treadmill. The information helps to show how well the heart responds to the body's demands and may provide information to help diagnose and treat problems. It can also be used to see the effects of treatment on the heart.
4. Holter Monitor
Many people have intermittent symptoms such as intermittent chest pain or occasional feelings of their heart beating faster or irregularly. However, their EKG does not show any changes. To detect these intermittent changes, a device called a Holter monitor can be worn for several days to record the hearts' electrical function.
A Holter monitor is similar to a stress test, but it is worn for 1 or 2 days and provides a continual EKG-like recording of the heart's electrical activity during those days. Most doctors will ask the patient to keep a logbook of the time they do certain activities (for example, walking a mile starting at 7:20 AM and ending at 7:40 AM) and list any symptoms (for example, "experienced shortness of breath or rapid irregular heartbeats at 7:35 AM"). The Holter monitor's recordings can then be examined based on when certain symptoms occurred.
5. Chest X-ray
Chest x-rays can provide limited information about the heart's condition. Chest X-rays are used to provide the doctor with a view of both the heart and lungs to help determine if any abnormalities are present. These two X-rays show a relatively normal heart on the left. In the right X-ray, an enlarged heart (mainly the left ventricle) is easily seen and suggests the heart's main pumping chamber is not functioning normally. In addition, x-rays may show fluid accumulation in the lungs, possibly from heart failure.
6. Cardiac CT Scan
Specialized cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scans or 'cardiac CTs' can provide detailed 3-D images of the heart. The images can be manipulated to look for calcium buildup (plaque) in coronary arteries or provide images of such internal structures of the heart like valves or wall thickness. CTs can also be used to examine normal heart anatomy or congenital defects. The information from a CT can provide insight into several heart disease problems.
7. Cardiac Catheterization
Plaque in cardiac arteries can be a severe problem, even life-threatening, in some patients. Diagnosing plaque blockage of coronary arteries and treatment for blockages has improved the lives of many patients with coronary artery disease. Cardiac catheterization is a technique that may provide both diagnostic information and therapeutic methodology in one procedure. The technique is invasive.
How Cardiac Catheterization Works
- A thin tube is placed in a blood vessel in the leg or arm and threaded into the heart and into the opening of a coronary artery.
- Dye is put into the tube and goes into the artery.
- A special X-ray machine images the dye, showing narrowing or blockage of the artery.
- The same tube may be used with special tips to open the coronary artery by angioplasty (small balloon is inflated) or used to place a wire mesh (stent) that expands to hold the artery open.
Symptoms That May Resist Treatment
- Ankle swelling
- Fatigue
- Fluid retention
- Shortness of breath
Lifestyle changes may become necessary (for example, home oxygen, limited activity.
8. Angioplasty
Other treatments for heart disease involve special techniques like angioplasty and stent placement.
Angioplasty Step by Step
- A thin catheter or tube (stent) is placed in a coronary artery and is threaded through an obstruction like a clot.
- A balloon is inflated and pushes aside the obstruction.
- The balloon is then deflated leaving the artery unblocked, thus allowing good blood flow.
- Often, after angioplasty, an expandable mesh tube is then inserted and expanded, reinforcing the artery to keep it from collapsing
9. Bypass Surgery
Some patient's coronary arteries are not good candidates for angioplasty and/or stents. Such patients may benefit from another treatment technique termed bypass surgery. Bypass surgery occurs when a surgeon removes a blood vessel from one part of the body (chest, legs, or arms) and uses it to connect one open part of a coronary artery to another open part, thus bypassing the area that has blocked blood flow. Often the surgeon may need to bypass more than one artery.
The decision to try and stent a coronary artery versus doing bypass surgery is usually recommended to the patient by their cardiologist and a heart surgeon. Bypass surgery is usually done if coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked in multiple places.
With Medicines
Advances in medicines that can help reduce the symptoms and slow the damage of heart disease have helped the majority of heart disease patients. Drugs are available to do the following:
- Lower blood pressure (anti-hypertensives)
- Lower heartbeat rates (beta blockers)
- Lower cholesterol levels to reduce plaque (diet, statins)
- Help stabilize abnormal heart rhythms (ablation, cardiac pacers)
- Reduce or prevent clotting in coronary arteries (blood thinners)
- Improve the pumping ability of a person's heart with heart disease (inotropic agents)
Comments
Post a Comment