Cardiology Tests and Procedures Overview
by Neil Jeffrey Berman, M.D.
Granite Medical's 5 board-certified cardiologists are all fully trained and experienced in providing the most up-to-date cardiology services. At least one cardiologist is available physically at the hospital for emergencies all day 7 days per week. Besides consultative services we also provide the following cardiology services to help us diagnose and treat cardiac conditions:
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Echocardiography: an ultrasound procedure that allows us to safely visualize the heart chambers, valves and function, either from the chest wall or esophagus (gullet).
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Holter Electrocardiography (EKG's) and Event Recorders: are procedures that help us monitor and diagnose heart rhythm problems.
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Stress Testing: several different ways of monitoring how the heart functions when it has to work harder. We use exercise and medications to "stress" the heart, and we assess the results with EKG's, nuclear isotopes and echocardiography, depending on the patient and the situation.
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Cardiac Catheterization: a procedure where small catheters (plastic tubes) are inserted through the blood vessels into the heart, and dye is injected in order to see where blockages are, and what treatment would be best to treat this. We do this diagnostic procedure at Quincy Medical Center.
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Angioplasty and Stent Placement: sometimes these blockages can be opened up with balloons and stents left in place to keep the arteries open. We have a Granite cardiologist (Dr. Beth Biegelsen) working at Boston Medical Center 2 days per week doing these procedures for our patients.
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Pacemaker Implantation: we implant both temporary and permanent pacemakers to treat patients whose heart rhythm has become abnormal. We also work closely with centers in Boston who implant AICD's, pacemaker devices, which can shock the heart back to a normal rhythm automatically, if the need should arise. We also monitor and reprogram these devices, when necessary, in our office.
If you have any questions or to schedule an appointment with a Granite Medical Physician or Nurse Practitioner, please contact us.