Cardiopulmonary services include a broad spectrum of advanced, non-invasive testing to aid in the diagnosis of heart disease and the assessment of heart function.
Services include echocardiography and stress tests, resting electrocardiograms (EKGs) and ambulatory EKGs (Holter monitoring).
Echocardiography and stress tests
Echocardiography, a cardiac ultrasound or heart sonogram, uses high-frequency sound waves to evaluate your heart structure and physiology through two-dimensional, Doppler and color Doppler modalities. The procedure can be used as a primary tool in diagnosing a number of heart conditions.
Coronary artery disease, or heart blockages and hardening of the arteries, can be evaluated through stress testing with echocardiography imaging. A stress test can be performed one of two ways at our offices, and your cardiologist will determine which method is best for you: exercising on a treadmill to raise your heart rate or using an intravenous medication called dobutamine to induce stress on the heart. Both procedures are done under close supervision by a physician.
Sonographers certified by the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography administer echocardiography and stress tests using state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment in a fully digital lab for clear, immediate results. The echocardiography lab is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories for adult and stress echocardiography.
We also perform vascular echocardiographies, resting EKGs, transesophageal EKGs and exercise and pharmacologic stress echocardiograms.
IAC accreditation
In 2018, Mount Nittany Health Cardiology was granted a three-year term of reaccreditation in echocardiography from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC).
Early detection of life threatening heart disorders and other diseases is possible through the use of echocardiography procedures, which uses sound waves to take moving images of the heart. There are many aspects that contribute to an accurate diagnosis based on echocardiography testing—the skill of the echocardiography sonographer performing the examination, the type of equipment used, the background and knowledge of the interpreting physician, and quality assurance measures are each critical to quality patient testing.
Reaccreditation by the IAC means that Mount Nittany Health Cardiology has once again undergone a thorough review of its operational and technical components by a panel of experts. It is a “seal of approval” that patients can rely on as an indication that the cardiology practice has been carefully critiqued on all aspects of its operations considered relevant by medical experts in the field of echocardiography.
EKG testing
EKGs are used to measure the heart’s electrical impulses for heart condition diagnosis. Pads are placed on a patient’s chest to monitor heartbeat patterns.
We also provide Holter monitors, a portable EKG apparatus a patient wears for 24 hours, as well as month-long cardiac event monitoring to observe intermittent disturbances in heart rhythm.