Which Scan Is Used For The Heart? 

Which Scan Is Used For The Heart? 

The answer to which scan is used for the heart is varied as it depends on what your doctor is looking for in an imaging study. The health symptoms you have are determiners in the modality selection for diagnosis. Before recommending a scan, your doctor will have a rigorous physical examination, for sure, given that heart diseases are both common and diverse!

Now, if you want to know which scan doctors most likely recommend and when, this blog is all yours to read and learn from!

Cardiac CT

A cardiac CT (Computed Tomography) scan is the primary one that most doctors avail themselves of to assess your heart condition. This scan basically indulges in the use of several x-rays beans to create two-dimensional or three-dimensional images of your heart from different angles. It is a painless and non-invasive process. It is conducted outpatient and is easily accessible.

Cardiac CTs are efficient during emergencies, especially if you have had an accident or severe chest pain accompanied by breathing trouble persistently for hours. This scan can help doctors detect calcium building up in the blood and can thereby locate blockages and blood clots in the blood vessels. It can reveal the location of calcification and also the extent!

Doctors even recommend cardiac CT scans to detect heart diseases like Pneumonia or Aortic Aneurysms (selling of your aorta). Doctors use Cardiac CTs to plan open and minimally invasive surgeries for replacing your heart valves or maybe while pursuing transcatheter processes. In fact, many medical experts say a CT Scan is a crucial modality for planning robotic heart surgery.

Cardiac MRI

When your CT scan report needs further clarification to begin the appropriate treatment, especially in the case of soft tissue diseases in your cardiovascular system, doctors recommend a cardiac MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) test. This scan is also non-invasive and uses magnets alongside computer-generated radio waves to screen the interior of your heart.

A cardiac MRI offers a detailed picture of scarring or an abnormal mass. It can reveal an infarction, where certain tissues in your heart stop receiving enough blood due to obstruction. In the case of tumors, be they benign or cancerous, an MRI can give more information about your heart and blood vessels than a cardiac CT. It is superior in assessing congenital and infiltrative heart diseases.

Cardiac MRI serves to be the most significant technique to examine your pericardium, i.e., the membrane surrounding the heart. It can diagnose an inherited disease. It can detect valve dysfunction. Today, the doctor typically uses an advanced MRI scan where an echocardiogram Kay used to topple motion blurring in the cardiac picture. This helps assess ventricular functions and cardiovascular shunts!

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is the prominent diagnostic modality in the expert word-of-the-mouth concerning which scan is used for the heart in case of its functional screening. Yes. An echocardiogram is an imaging test that utilizes sound waves to create your heart picture. Your doctor may recommend this scan to diagnose the heart size and whether your heart muscles can contract and relax normally!

Doctors ask for an echocardiogram to assess the functioning of your heart valves. It can detect heart attacks and heart failure. It can help your doctor locate a blockage, an unusual hole in or between the heart chambers, a narrowed heart valve, and an enlarged heart wall. An echocardiogram is also efficient in diagnosing blood leakages and infections in the heart valves (endocarditis).

Echocardiograms are advanced ultrasound modalities. No or minimal invasion, but no radiation! They are of different types, like a stress echocardiogram used for screening ischemic heart disease, or a fetal echocardiogram, monitoring your baby’s heart. A transesophageal echocardiogram is however the most commonly used!

Electrocardiogram

Doctors recommend another efficient scan to analyze heart rhythm & electrical activities. It is an electrocardiogram, in short, we call ECG. If you experience frequent palpitations for a prolonged span, your doctor is likely to opt for this imaging study. The scan can tell whether you have an irregular, slow, or quick heartbeat and simultaneously detect electrolyte abnormalities.

Yes. An electrocardiogram is a non-invasive test where sensors attached to your skin detect the electrical signals to show low or high potassium and calcium levels in your heart. Doctors often use this scan as a primary one to detect heart attacks and to diagnose blocked blood supply. Doctors even recommend an ECG for detecting fat build-up in or around your heart.

An electrocardiogram can help show extra fluids surrounding your heart. It can help diagnose sinus syndrome. It can identify heart inflammation. Electrocardiogram is one of the common doctor’s preferences to detect congenital heart defects. If your doctor predicts that you have arterial fibrillation, a condition where rapid heart rhythms pave for the formation of blood clots, an electrocardiogram is a plausible pick.

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Hence, the bottom line is cardiac CT, cardiac MRI, echocardiogram, and electrocardiogram are the standard diagnostic modalities that arise from the question of which scan is used for the heart. You must strictly go for whichever your doctors order, as they are the experts here.

If your doctor recommends a cardiac MRI in Chandigarh to diagnose the underlying cause of your heartburn or chest pain, extreme fatigue, and muscle and body aches, visit www.mrichandigarh.com. Here, you can book a scan according to your schedule and similarly secure a discounted quote from the best radiology labs in Chandigarh.