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Examinations Other than a Physical Exam for Interventional Cardiologists

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An interventional cardiologist can use other examinations besides the physical exam (i.e. - blood test) to accurately diagnosis CAD. A cardiologist can use the cardiac catheterization lab for invasive techniques (skin is pierced) such as: an angiogram or intravascular ultrasound (Libby, et al., 2008). The cardiologist can also exercise noninvasive methods (skin is not penetrated): echocardiogram, electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), exercise/pharmacologic stress test, nuclear imaging, and radiographic tests (Diseases & Conditions , 2014).

Noninvasive Methods A cardiologist usually begins with the noninvasive testing to see if the patient has CAD. The echocardiogram (echo) test is used when a patient may have chest pain, a previous heart attack, heart murmur, or a congenital heart defect (AHA, 2000). The echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the cardiac muscle. An echo is a test that uses a transducer to pick up sound waves which vibrate throughout the heart (Staff, 2011). The vibrations from the heart are accumulated to create a picture of the heart functioning (Staff, 2011).
An echo has several types of testing: Transthoracic echo (TTE), Doppler echo, and Transesophageal echo (TEE). The TTE is the common echo performed. A sonographer applies a gel to the left pectoral and upper left abdomen. The gel aids the transducer when applied to the chest in obtaining echoes of sound waves from the heart. The sound waves obtained from the heart are then created into electrical impulses.

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