You or your child may have a number of tests performed to
make or confirm the diagnosis and monitor the condition.
Tests -- or “studies” -- can be invasive or non-invasive. An
invasive medical procedure requires that a part of the body is
entered, usually by needle puncture or surgical incision.
Non-invasive procedures are usually done completely on the
outside of the body and do not involve an incision, although
sometimes a needle stick or IV will be needed.
Sometimes a non-invasive test may require sedation or
anesthesia to perform the test due to the age or mental status
of the patient. This will slightly increase the risk of the
non-invasive test but will be used when the cardiologist
decides that the benefits of the test clearly outweigh any risk
of sedation.
Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory
Duke’s Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory, or Echo Lab,
performs diagnostic cardiac ultrasound on children with known
and suspected congenital and other cardiac lesions. We perform
transthoracic, fetal, and transesophageal
echocardiograms.
These procedures are necessary for the diagnosis of patients
with congenital or acquired cardiovascular disease.
Non-invasive transthoracic diagnostic
procedures performed include:
- Doppler echo
- Color doppler
- 2D/M-Mode
Invasive procedures include intraoperative
and nonoperative transesophageal echocardiograms.
Other Diagnostic Imaging
Tests performed at the Duke Congenital Heart Program
include:
- Autonomic tilt table testing
- Blood test
- Cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography
-
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
-
Chest X-ray
-
Electrocardiogram
-
Electrophysiology (EP) Study
- Exercise testing
-
Heart biopsy
-
Holter monitoring
- Pacemaker testing
- Pulse oximetry
- Transtelephonic monitoring
Physicians
Physicians offering this service include:
Locations
This service is available at:
