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services:

cardiology services

More than 58 million Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease and many more are at risk for developing it. More than a million suffer a heart attack each year.  Another 300,000 will suffer cardiac arrest. 

That’s why Ohio Valley General Hospital provides a full range of services to help people prevent, diagnose, treat and recover from heart disease and stroke. Our convenient and comprehensive cardiac services include:

Non-invasive Diagnostic Services

  • Electrocardiograms (ECG or EKG)
    No appointment necessary:  Monday – Friday 7:00am - 3:30pm; Saturday 8:00am – 3:00pm; Sunday 8:00am - 11:00am
  • Holter Monitoring (24 Hour Heart Monitor)
  • Echocardiograms
  • Exercise Stress Tests with and without Nuclear Imaging

Call (412) 777-6136 to schedule an appointment for the above procedures. Physician referral required.

Invasive Diagnostic Procedures

  • Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization
  • Peripheral Diagnostic and Interventional Procedures
  • Pacemaker Implantation
    For additional information, please call (412) 777-6595. Physician referral required.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

  • Phase II  (Monitored and Supervised)
  • Phase III  (Non-Monitored)

Call (412) 777-6849 to schedule an appointment. Physician referral required.

Electrocardiograms

An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is done to:

  • Check the heart's electrical activity.
  • Find the cause of unexplained chest pain, which could be caused by a heart attack, inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart (pericarditis), or angina.
  • Find the cause of symptoms of heart disease, such as shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, or rapid, irregular heartbeats (palpitations).
  • Find out if the walls of the heart chambers are too thick (hypertrophied).
  • Check how well medicines are working and whether they are causing side effects that affect the heart.
  • Check how well mechanical devices that are implanted in the heart, such as pacemakers, are working to control a normal heartbeat.
  • Check the health of the heart when other diseases or conditions are present, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diabetes, or a family history of early heart disease.

A certified Ohio Valley EKG technician will educate and guide you through the procedure. Should you have any questions before or during the procedure, a specialist will be near your side to provide you with the appropriate support.

Holter Moniter

A Holter monitor is a continuous tape recording of a patient's EKG for 24 hours. Since it can be worn during the patient's regular daily activities, it helps the physician correlate symptoms of dizziness, palpitations (a sensation of fast or irregular heart rhythm) or black outs. Since the recording covers 24 hours, on a continuous basis, Holter monitoring is much more likely to detect an abnormal heart rhythm when compared to the EKG which lasts less than a minute. It can also help evaluate the patient's EKG during episodes of chest pain, during which time there may be telltale changes to suggest ischemia (pronounced is-keem-ya) or reduced blood supply to the muscle of the left ventricle.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram (also called an echo) is a type of ultrasound test that uses high-pitched sound waves that are sent through a device called a transducer. The device picks up echoes of the sound waves as they bounce off the different parts of your heart. These echoes are turned into moving pictures of your heart that can be seen on a video screen.

This test is performed to:

  • Look for the cause of abnormal heart sounds (murmurs or clicks), an enlarged heart, unexplained chest pains, shortness of breath, or irregular heartbeats.
  • Check the thickness and movement of the heart wall.
  • Look at the heart valves and check how well they work.
  • See how well an artificial heart valve is working.
  • Measure the size and shape of the heart's chambers.
  • Check the ability of your heart chambers to pump blood (cardiac performance). During an echocardiogram, your doctor can calculate how much blood your heart is pumping during each heartbeat (ejection fraction). You might have a low ejection fraction if you have heart failure.
  • Detect a disease that affects the heart muscle and the way it pumps, such as cardiomyopathy.
  • Look for blood clots and tumors inside the heart.

The exercise stress test -- also called a stress test, exercise electrocardiogram, treadmill test, graded exercise test, or stress ECG -- is a test used to provide information about how the heart responds to exertion. It usually involves walking on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bike at increasing levels of difficulty, while your electrocardiogram, heart rate, and blood pressure are monitored.

Your Ohio Valley doctor uses the stress test to:

  • Determine if there is adequate blood flow to your heart during increasing levels of activity.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of your heart medications to control angina and ischemia.
  • Determine the likelihood of having coronary heart disease and the need for further evaluation.
  • Check the effectiveness of procedures done to improve blood flow within the heart vessels in people with coronary heart disease.
  • Identify abnormal heart rhythms.
  • Help you develop a safe exercise program.

Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac catheterization is a high-tech procedure in which doctor inserts a thin plastic tube (catheter) into an artery or vein in the arm or leg. From there it can be advanced into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary arteries. This test can measure blood pressure within the heart, how much oxygen is in the blood, and the pumping ability of the heart muscle. Catheters are also used to inject dye into the coronary arteries so they can be examined as well.

Ohio Valley General Hospital established the state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory to give our patients high-quality service within a community setting.

For more information, contact the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Ohio Valley General Hospital call (412) 777-6595.

Peripheral Vascular Angioplasty

As you age, plaque - a material made of cholesterol, calcium and fibrous tissue can build up along the walls of your arteries. As more plaque accumulates, your arteries narrow and stiffen. Eventually, enough plaque builds up to reduce blood flow or cause irregularities in the normally smooth inner walls of the arteries.

In an angioplasty procedure, imaging techniques are used to guide a balloon-tipped catheter, a long, thin plastic tube, into an artery or vein and advance it to where the vessel is narrow or blocked. The balloon is then inflated to open the vessel, deflated and removed. During angioplasty, a small wire mesh tube called a stent may be permanently placed in the newly opened artery or vein to help it remain open.

Angioplasty with or without vascular stenting is commonly used to treat conditions that involve a narrowing or blockage of arteries or veins throughout the body, including:

  • Narrowing of large arteries (aorta and its branches) due to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, a gradual process in which cholesterol and other fatty deposits, called plaques, build up on the artery walls.
  • Peripheral artery disease (PAD), a narrowing of the arteries in the legs or arms. In patients with PAD, angioplasty alone or angioplasty with stenting may be used to open up a blocked artery in the pelvis, leg or arm.
  • Renal vascular hypertension, high blood pressure caused by a narrowing of the kidney arteries. Angioplasty with stenting is a commonly used method to open one or both of the arteries that supply blood to the kidneys. Treating renal arterial narrowing is also performed in some patients to protect or improve the kidney function.
  • Carotid artery disease, a narrowing of the neck arteries supplying blood to the brain. 
  • Venous narrowings involving the central veins (in the chest or the pelvis). In some cases, stenting of the narrowed vein is also needed.
  • Narrowing in dialysis fistula or grafts. When there is decreased flow in the graft or fistula so that is not adequate for dialysis, angioplasty is generally the first line of treatment. Stenting may also be needed in some cases.

For additional information, please call (412) 777-6595.

Pacemaker insertion

A pacemaker is a small, artificial electrical device which assists, or in some cases, replaces the function of the SA node. (the body’s natural pacemaker) Frequently, pacemakers are necessary following a heart attack or cardiac surgery. Without treatment, a slow or irregular heart rate can lead to weakness, confusion, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and even death.

There are two types of pacemakers: permanent (implantable) and temporary (external). Your doctor will advise you as to which device is most suitable depending upon your condition.

Most pacemakers are demand pacemakers. Demand pacemakers have a sensing device which paces the heart (turns the device off and on) as needed--off when the heart beat is too fast and on when it is too slow. Patients are usually completely unaware of when the device is pacing their heart.

A pacemaker implantation is a minor procedure requiring only mild sedation and a local anesthetic (patients are generally not put to sleep). A small, approximately 2-inch incision is made parallel to and just below the collarbone. A thin flexible wire (called the lead) is inserted into a vein that lies just under the collarbone. The doctor advances the lead through that vein under fluoroscopic (x-ray like) guidance into the heart. Once the lead enters the heart, the doctor attaches it to the tissue inside the heart. At this point, the doctor will test the lead to see if it is in a suitable place for pacing. The testing is not painful. After the lead test, your doctor may decide to move the lead and perform the test again. Repositioning and retesting a pacing lead several times is not unusual during a pacemaker procedure.

The other end of the pacer wires are connected to a "generator" that is implanted under the skin beneath the collarbone. This generator is about half an inch deep and one and a half inches wide. The skin is then sutured closed and the patient leaves the hospital later that same day or the following day.

An Ohio Valley General Hospital Cardiac Specialist will educate and guide you through the procedure to assure your safety and quick recovery. Should you have any questions during or after your procedure, please do not hesitate to ask

For additional information on pacemaker insertion, please call (412) 777-6595.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac Rehab is a structured program involving a variety of specially trained professionals and incorporates supervised exercise, education, and counseling to help patients return to their best possible condition following a cardiac event. Cardiac Rehab is appropriate for people recovering from the following types of cardiac conditions:

  • Open heart surgery
  • Heart attack
  • Angina
  • Angioplasty
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Congestive heart failure

For more information, call the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department at Ohio Valley General Hospital, call (412) 777-6849.

 

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