Non-Invasive Cardiology

Transthoracic (through the thoracic cavity) Echocardiography:Patient who is asked to lie on the left side is examined over the chest wall after applying a gel thereon. This procedure is a sort of ultrasonic examination. Thereby patient’s heart walls, heart valves and large vessels are examined. These procedures are performed and assessed by a cardiologist. No x-ray exposure is received. It can be performed in patients of all ages without any side effects. In presence of a history of serious myocardial infarction (heart muscle death) and a serious coronary vessel narrowing (without directly displaying the vessel), whether the heart valves function or not, causes of shortness of breath, fainting and cardiac arrhythmia may be preliminarily detected thereby.

Transesophageal Echocardiography

It is an examination similar to gastroscopy. In such an examination, intracardiac cavities and heart valves can be better assessed since the lungs are not in between. It may also be performed when in some cases very poor images are received through transthoracic echocardiography.

Tread Mill (Effort Test)

This test is used in diagnosis of coronary artery diseases, determination of capacity of effort, in routine controls of patients with a known coronary vessel disease, follow-up of effort-related variations in blood pressure in patients with hypertension and investigation of association of cardiac arrhythmias with effort.

This test must be performed under the supervision of an experienced nurse and cardiologist.

ECG and regular blood pressure levels are continuously measured in the patient who is asked to walk on the treadmill which is speeded and adjusted to an increased degree of slope in line with certain rules.

Stress echocardiography

Stress echocardiography is an echocardiography procedure performed by exercise methods or drugs that speed up heart rate. Exercise echocardiography involves recording of echocardiographic images immediately before and after application of exercise protocol in treadmill effort test or at each stage of the exercise with the aid of a bicycle exercise test. In cases where exercise test cannot be performed, drug stress echocardiography is applied by incremental administration of drugs that will increase heart rhythm and contraction at certain intervals.

Electrocardiography (ECG), Holter Follow-up, Event Recorder, Loop Recorder, Tilt Table Test are performed as examinations and tests related to arrhythmias in Cardiology Department of Kolan International Hospital.