2. Cardiac enzymes Blood test to determine the level of enzymes specific to the hears muscles in the blood. An increase in the enzymes may indicate heart muscle damage such as a myocardial infarction. These enzymes include creatinephosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and glutamicoxaloacetictransaminase (GOT). The levels of these enzymes rise simply because when a heart muscle is injured, such as from a heart attack, the enzymes and proteins leak out of damaged heart muscle cells, and their levels in the bloodstream rise.
3. About the test The health professional draw your blood Cardiac enzyme studies are often repeated over several hours for comparison. Blood samples for these cardiac enzyme tests are usually drawn every 8 to 12 hours for 1 to 2 days after a suspected heart attack, to look for the rise and fall in the enzyme levels.
4. When cardiac enzyme tests are not useful There are times when this test may not be helpful. These include: someone on cholesterol lowering medications (statins) heavy alcohol use recent heavy exercise a recent serious injury recent surgery having had CPR or defibrillation kidney failure
5. Cardiac scan Patient is given radioactive thallium intravenously, and then scanning equipment is used to visualize the heart. It is especially useful in determining myocardial damage. During a cardiac CT scan, an x-ray machine will move around your body in a circle. The machine will take a picture of each part of your heart. A computer will put the pictures together to make a three-dimensional (3D) picture of the whole heart.
6. Cardiac scan cont’d Because an x-ray machine is used, cardiac CT involves radiation. Although the amount of radiation used is considered small, it's similar to the amount of radiation you're naturally exposed to over a 3-year period. There's a small chance that cardiac CT will cause cancer because of the radiation involved. The risk is higher for people younger than 40 years old, especially children.
7. Cardiac scan cont’d Cardiac CT is a common test for finding and/or evaluating: Calcium build up in the walls of the coronary arteries CHD Problems with heart functions and heart valves Problems with aorta Problems in the pulmonary veins Pericardial disease
8. Doppler ultrasonography Measurement of sound wave echoes as they bounce off tissues and organs to produce an image. It’s used to measure velocity of blood moving through blood vessels to look for blood clots or deep vein thrombosis For instance, disrupted or obstructed blood flow through the neck arteries may indicate that a person is at risk of having a stroke, because those arteries supply brain with blood.
10. References Fremgen, B.F. & Frught, S.S. Medical terminology: A living language. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/cardiac-enzyme-studies http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ct/ct_whatis.html
