DIAGNOSIS
First a clear understanding
Then a means to the very best treatment.
Critical to the treatment of cardiovascular disease is early and accurate identification of the problem. Extraordinary diagnostic technologies are essential to this process, and The Heart and Vascular Institute at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital draws upon an arsenal of the most sophisticated diagnostic tools available anywhere.
64-Slice CT Scanner: Capturing Your Heart in Just 6 Seconds.
Its the latest addition to our diagnostic arsenal the 64-Slice CT Scanner. This incredible advancement in CT scanning technology makes it a clinical reality to produce exceptionally clear 3-D images of the heart and surrounding coronary vessels in just six seconds.
Best of all, at The Heart and Vascular Institute all coronary CT scans are reviewed and evaluated by both a radiologist and a cardiologist. By far, this is the best non-invasive alternative to standard cardiac catheterization.
Another recent example of outstanding diagnostic technologies at work for you is cardiac scoring. one of the fastest CT scanners on the market, cardiac scoring provides our professionals an outstanding ability to conduct non-invasive, pain-free tests that take only seconds to execute and capture the clearest images of the heart between beats. As a result, cardiac scoring is an extraordinarily precise tool for diagnosing serious heart problems that might otherwise be missed altogether by more traditional testing methods.
Our Cardiologists, Interventional Cardiologists and Interventional Radiologists Are All Expert in All These Procedures:
Of course, cardiac scoring is but one of our tools. At The Heart and Vascular Institute at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, we employ a wide array of excellent diagnostic methodologies, including these:
Unmatched Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories
Cardiac Catheterization plays a crucial part in cardiovascular disease
diagnosis, and our pair of cath labs boast the most sophisticated
technologies. As a result, we offer leading expertise in the performance
of cardiac catheterizations and related interventional procedures
such as angioplasty and
coronary stenting. Each of our Cardiac Catheterization
"swing labs" (for maximum efficiency, effect and comfort, imaging
devices literally swing from a patient in one room to a patient
in another room) features the following:
Sophisticated Vascular Interventional Radiology Laboratory
Our cutting-edge technology is unmatched in the region. Now patients with
peripheral vascular disease have access to the best available treatment option right here at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. Our ICAVL (Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories) accredited vascular lab stands alone as the only one in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In fact, you'd have to travel to the most advanced teaching hospitals in the United States to find comparable technology.
Interventional radiology uses very advanced technology to create images (like
X-rays, MRIs and ultrasounds) of the body's internal processes and structures.
And in that sense, it is much like traditional radiology. But that's where the similarity stops. Where traditional radiologists use images to diagnose abnormalities and recommend treatment options, interventional radiologists actually use the advanced images to perform procedures. With incredible precision, interventional radiologists can guide medications through blood vessels, or use tiny catheters to perform minimally invasive diagnostic procedures. It's very sophisticated technology, to say the least.
With incredible precision, our highly skilled interventional radiologists use this technology to diagnose and help treat diseases in ways never available before and very quickly and painlessly. For example, by using ultrasound images and blood pressure measurements, blood vessels can be evaluated for blockages all in a process that typically takes only about 30 minutes!
In other instances, procedures are performed through a tiny incision in a blood
vessel, through which a miniature catheter is placed and directed to the area to be evaluated or treated. What's more, our interventional radiologists can use computer tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to
create extremely detailed images (utilizing x-rays or radiowaves with an IV contrast injection). Such technology gives our experts
incredibly accurate diagnostic images with little more than a needle stick or tiny incision in the skin.
Sophisticated Doppler Technology
Our vascular lab is also where our interventional radiologists put advanced Doppler technology to use for our patients. Taking advantage of this unique sonar technology, our skilled interventional radiologists can evaluate patients who have had a stroke, or very importantly treat high risk patients before a stroke occurs.
It's all possible because of what's called carotid Doppler technology. This diagnostic procedure uses ultrasound to measure the blood flow through the carotid arteries of the neck. Our interventional radiologists can then determine if arteries are narrowed by cholesterol deposits a major cause of stroke. The procedure is painless, fast and accurate.
Some of the advanced procedures offered in our vascular lab include:
- Carotid dopplers
- Peripheral arterial dopplers
- Venous dopplers
- Pseudoaneurysm compression and thrombosis techniques
The Most Advanced Angio Suite
One of the most advanced procedures performed by our interventional radiologists is called angiography a diagnostic procedure that uses an injection of special liquid dye to make blood vessels easily viewed through X-rays.
The information gathered from the tests enables doctors to make decisions about surgeries or detect aneurysms. For instance, angiography can be used to view the carotid artery and its branches in the neck and head which allows for the detection of tumors or unusual bleeding in the brain, head and neck.
In addition, it can detect abnormalities in the kidneys and liver and the other major arteries in the body. In fact, angiography is a most important diagnostic tool for physicians to find a host of abnormalities, and is just as vital as a means for doctors to plan treatment options, surgeries and follow-up care.
Among the advanced procedures our radiologists perform in our Angio Suite are:
- Diagnostic angiography procedures, including: cerebral, carotid, aortic,
mesenteric, renal, pelvic, iliac and lower extremity arteriography
- Diagnostic venography upper extremity, lower extremity and hepatic
- Pulmonary angiography
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