Health Resources:

Heart Disease Heart disease is the biggest health risk Americans face today. If you don’t have heart disease now, you can help prevent it. If you’ve already been diagnosed with heart disease, you can keep it from getting worse. Here are the tools to get you started.

Heart Disease Risk Factors Clinical Wizard One of the ways you can help prevent heart disease is by knowing your risk factors.

Cardiac and Chest Pain Services

At LV Stabler, our cardiac patients’ are evaluated by using the diagnostic tools below.

• Echocardiogram is an ultrasound procedure of the heart. The procedure involves the placement of three EKG leads on the patient’s chest. The ultrasound technician applies a small amount of gel on a transducer, which is placed on the patient’s chest. The procedure is videotaped for the physician's review. The physician will look at how well the heart contracts to squeeze the blood from the heart. He assesses how well the heart valves open and close, reviews the motion of the artery walls and looks for fluid or tumors surrounding the heart.
   
• Stress Testing is one of the simplest and fastest procedures to evaluate the heart. LV Stabler uses the GXT is a procedure, which the physician utilizes to help diagnose possible cardiac problems. The patient is connected to a cardiac monitor which, the physician watches closely throughout the GXT procedure for any changes or abnormalities. The patient begins to do an activity, which causes the heart to work hard (usually walking on a treadmill). The physician gradually increases the level of the activity until the patient reaches a target heart rate. Throughout the entire procedure the cardiac rhythm is monitored and an EKG is printed. The physician analyzes all of the information acquired, which help in determining if there are any cardiac problems and if further tests are warranted.

At LVS, we pride ourselves for the special care that is rendered to our cardiac patients. For more information about cardiology services, call 334-383-2321 or send a message through our Contact Us section.