Heart Blockage Without Angiography?
You’ve been told that you need an angiography to check your heart blockage through lab, but what if there was another way? Some patients don’t require angiography and can still get a diagnosis of their heart blockage.
This article will explore alternative ways to diagnose heart blockage without angiography, including diagnostic imaging, ultrasounds, and nuclear medicine tests.
What is Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)?
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a group of conditions present at birth in which some or all of your heart’s four chambers are not correctly formed. Having CHD can affect how well your heart works and, in severe cases, can lead to death.
In some types of CHD, there is an opening between parts of your heart that should be closed. This defect is called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). A VSD allows blood to flow from one side of your heart to another.
This can cause oxygen-rich blood from your lungs to mix with oxygen-poor blood returning from your body, making it harder to get enough oxygen when you breathe. If left untreated, VSD may worsen over time and increase the risk of complications such as arrhythmias or congestive heart failure.
Diagnosis of congenital heart disease
Although it’s impossible to diagnose congenital heart disease without angiography, you can easily get a general idea of your child’s risk factors by checking their blood. With a simple Lab Test, Dr. Essa Laboratory can provide you with information on your child’s risk factors related to cardiovascular problems and pre-existing heart diseases that may be passed down from family members.
In addition, if your child has been diagnosed with an illness such as Down syndrome or Turner syndrome, Dr. Essa Laboratory can help determine whether they are at increased risk for developing heart disease later in life.
Learn from the Experience of Others
Dr. Essa Lab, a leading cardiovascular pathology lab in Karachi, Pakistan, offers an innovative blood test to screen for heart blockages. We’ll explain what tests they offer and how you can perform these at home or your local lab.
While these tests aren’t conclusive when diagnosing heart conditions, they help gauge your risk. And if you do have symptoms of a heart problem such as chest pain or shortness of breath, be sure to see a doctor right away.
Identifying Symptoms
You can check if you or a loved one has cardiovascular problems by asking three questions: Do you get short of breath when you climb two flights of stairs? Can you hear your pulse in your neck or groin? Do you have swelling in your ankles or fingers after sitting or lying down for several hours? If you answer yes to any of these questions, it’s time to see a cardiologist.
Get an Echocardiogram at the Right Time
If you suspect that you have a heart blockage and are interest in whether or not you should get angiography. There is one step you can take before your doctor recommends it: an echocardiogram.
This test uses ultrasound to measure blood flow through your heart. If a blockage is detect and severe enough to require treatment, your doctor may recommend that you undergo angiography. However, if there are no signs of severe blockages on an echocardiogram, further invasive testing may not be recommended.
