The nuclear stress test, myocardial perfusion imaging, provides a detailed map of blood flow through the heart muscle at rest and under stress. It’s typically requested when other investigations haven’t provided sufficient information.
A stress echocardiogram combines an ultrasound of the heart with an exercise challenge, revealing how the heart performs under pressure, not just at rest.
Troponin is the blood test at the heart of chest pain assessment. If you have been to emergency with chest pain, here is what it measures and what the result means.
BNP and NT-proBNP are blood markers released when the heart is under strain — the primary tests used to diagnose and monitor heart failure. An elevated result is the beginning of an investigation, not a verdict.
T wave inversion describes a small wave on the tracing pointing down instead of up. In several of the heart’s twelve viewpoints that is completely normal. What matters is which ones, and whether it is new.
Calf pain is something almost everyone gets, and the explanation is usually reassuringly ordinary: a cramp, some soreness, or a minor strain. Here is how to tell the common causes apart from the one pattern worth knowing about.
You have a muscle bridge. For most people that sentence means nothing needs doing. For a minority it explains real chest pain, and new research shows how the troublesome ones can be treated.
The CT coronary angiogram gives a detailed view of the coronary arteries without any catheters, just a scan and a cannula. Here is what to expect from the procedure and how to interpret the results.
n ECG report mentioning Q waves or a possible old heart attack is usually a normal variant. A cardiologist explains what the finding actually means.