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directions to the Cardio- Diagnostic Center
EchocardiogramThe VCA Cardiodiagnostic Center was established to provide high quality, non-invasive cardiac diagnostic testing at a center owned and operated by Valley Cardiology Associates, Inc. This attractive and comfortable facility has been organized to provide an easy, patient-friendly office for the performance of your diagnostic exams. The convenient location in the Flatiron Building, at the crossroads of Fourth Street and Broadway, allows easy access from North and South as well as from all points within the Bethlehem community. Covered parking and wheelchair access are available. We hope you will find our staff and facility ready to serve you in a friendly, professional way.
This test utilizes ultrasound waves and computer-assisted enhancement technology to recreate a picture of your beating heart. This allows us to watch the image of your heart on a TV screen and evaluate the pumping function or any abnormalities of the heart muscle. Doppler examination together with the routine echocardiogram allows us to evaluate cardiac valve structure and function. This non-invasive test allows us to see and evaluate your heart in action!
Holter Monitor
Small electrodes are attached to your
chest by adhesive paper and connected by wires to a small box which record
all of your heartbeats for 24 hours. In this way, we have a 24 hour
ambulatory EKG recording which allows us to evaluate for any fast or slow
disorder of the heart rhythm. It is important to record any symptoms
in the patient diary record that you might feel while you are wearing
this.
Event Recorder
Is similar to the holter monitor, but much smaller, they come in
different varieties, but are often shaped like a bracelet. A button
can be used to activate a recording of the heartbeat at the time of a
symptom or sudden irregularity of the pulse. These recordings are
transmitted over phone lines, like a fax to provide info about
events which happen infrequently. The patient keeps the event
recorder for 30 days.
Nuclear
Stress Testing
Exercise treadmill testing
allows us to assess the blood flow through the coronary arteries when the
heart is at rest and when it is working hard. Computer enhanced images of
your heart are taken at "rest" shortly after you arrive for your
appointment. Later, you will walk briskly on a treadmill until your
heart reaches an age determined heart rate. During the stress test,
the electrocardiogram is monitored for any differences compared to at
rest. We will ask you to tell us if you are experiencing any
discomfort in your chest or any difficulty breathing. You will then
be imaged a second time to assess the "stress" blood flow to your heart
muscle. A small amount of radiopharmaceutical is injected both at
rest and at the peak of your stress test. This is what allows us to
acquire the images and provides us with a visual way to compare the
pattern of the coronary blood flow during rest and exercise, and to detect
any possible blockages in the arteries.
Pharmacologic stress testing utilizes medications instead of the treadmill to stimulate stress blood flow in the heart of patients who are not able to walk well. A patient's ability to exert themselves may be limited due to problems with their legs or knees, difficulty with breathing, or peripheral vascular disease. The use of medications such as Adenosine or Dobutamine will allow us to perform the stress test without walking you on the treadmill. Like exercise treadmill testing, two doses of a radiopharmaceutical are given, one at rest and one at the peak effect of the stress medication. This allows us to compare the differences in blood flow to the heart muscle between the resting and stress states.
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