Services
Offering adult cardiovascular care from the treatment of Coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, heart failure, peripheral vascular and arterial disease and arrhythmias.
OUR HEALTH SERVICES
The highly skilled staff of the Salame Heart and Vascular Clinic is dedicated to treating our patients with the highest level of care.
A pacemaker is a small device with two parts, a generator and wires that is placed under the skin in your chest to help control your heartbeat.
People may need a pacemaker for a variety of reasons such as arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythm).
Single chamber pacemaker:
- Usually carries electrical impulses from the pulse generator to the right ventricle of your heart.
Dual chamber pacemaker:
- Carries electrical impulses from the pulse generator to both the right ventricle and right atrium of your heart.
Automatic implantable cardioverter – defibrillator is a device designed to monitor the heart beat.
This device can deliver an electrical impulse or shock to the heart when it senses a life-threatening change in the heart’s rhythm.
The A.I.C.D is small enough to be implanted under the skin in the upper chest.
The A.I.C.D system consist of:
- A pulse generator that send an electrical impulse or shock to the heart
- Electrodes that sense rhythm
- Batteries designed to last 4 to 5 years.
- A small computer chip that tells the A.I.C.D when to deliver a shock.
If your heart has an irregular heart beat or is beating too fast, cardioversion is a way to restore a regular rhythm.
Why do people have a conversion?
- Treat arrhythmias (Arrhythmia-abnormal heart beats)
- Treat atrial flutter
- Treat atrial fibrillation (afib)
Some people have afib do not notice any changes in the way they feel. But others feel:
- A very fast heartbeat
- Short of breath or fatigue (tired)
A TEE is a test that uses sound waves to make pictures of your heart’s muscles and chambers, valves and outer lining, as well as the blood vessels that connect to your heart.
Why do people have a TEE?
- Gives the doctor clearer pictures of the upper chambers of the heart.
- Doctors may also use a TEE if you have a thick chest wall, are obese, have bandages on your chest, or are using a ventilator to help breathe.
A peripheral angiogram is a test that uses x-rays and dye to help your doctor find narrowed or clock areas in one or more of the arteries that supply blood to your legs.
If you are allergic to IVP dye please notify your physicia.
What should I watch for after I get home?
- A small bruise at the puncture site is common. If you start bleeding from the puncture site, lie flat and press firmly on that spot.
Call the doctor if:
- You leg with the puncture becomes numb or tingles, or your foot feels cold or turns blue
- The area around the puncture site looks more bruised
- The puncture site swells or fluids drain from it.
Carotid angiography is an invasive imaging procedure that involves inserting a catheter into a blood vessel in the arm or leg, and guiding it to the carotid artery.
Contrast dye is injected through the catheter so that x-ray movies of your carotid arteries.
If you are allergic to IVP dye please notify your physician.
Your doctor may use an carotid angiography to:
- Evaluate or confirm the presence of narrowing or blockage in your carotid arteries.
- Determine risk for future stroke
- Determine the need for further treatment (angioplasty/surgery)
- Perform a minimally invasive procedure, carotid stenting, to fix the narrowing in the carotid artery.
Catheterization of the right side of the heart is performed through the venous route.
It helps in the assessment of the following parameters:
- Measurement of cardiac output, left ventricular filling pressure and pulmonary artery wedge pressure
- Measurement of right heart oxygen saturations
- Assessment of pulmonary hypertension
- Perform an electrophysiology study
Cardiac Catheterizations is a procedure to examine how well your heart is working.
Why is a cardiac catheterization performed?
- This procedure is done to see if you have a heart problem, or as part of the procedure to correct a heart problem your doctor already knows about.
An electrocardiogram — abbreviated as EKG or ECG — is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. With each beat, an electrical impulse (or “wave”) travels through the heart. This wave causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart.
A portable device used to record your heart’s electrical activity when you have symptoms. It records the same information as an electrocardiogram (ECG), but for longer durations of time. Most of these devices can transmit the recorded information directly to your healthcare provider.
A battery-operated portable device that measures and records your heart’s activity (ECG) continuously for 24 to 48 hours or longer depending on the type of monitoring used. The device is the size of a small camera. It has wires with silver dollar-sized electrodes that attach to your skin.
A muga (multi-gated acquisition) heart scan is used to evaluate how well the individual walls of your heart chambers work and the sequence of heart muscle contractions.
What about radiation?
- Only a small amount of radiation is used for this test.
- The dose is carefully selected to give the least possible exposure while still allowing for an accurate exam.
- CAUTION: IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING; PLEASE NOTIFY THE NUCLEAR TECHNICIAN.
A exercise stress test is often called a treadmill test.
It helps the doctor find out how well your heart handles work.
A physician may recommend an exercise stress test to Diagnosis coronary artery disease (CAD), or Diagnose heart-related cause of symptoms such as:
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue or lightheadedness
This test can be performed for those individuals that are unable to walk on a treadmill.
This test uses a short-lived radioactive material, which along with computer imaging will help highlight any severely diseased blood vessels that may be causing diminished blood flow to the heart.
This test aids your doctor in determining whether you have heart disease or a heart-related cause of symptoms, such as chest or back pain, and shortness of breath
This test can be performed for those individuals that are unable to walk on a treadmill.
This test uses a short-lived radioactive material, which along with computer imaging will help highlight any severely diseased blood vessels that may be causing diminished blood flow to the heart.
This test aids your doctor in determining whether you have heart disease or a heart-related cause of symptoms, such as chest or back pain, and shortness of breath
A nuclear stress test use radioactive dye and an imaging machine to create pictures showing the blood flow to your heart while exerting (walking on a treadmill).
What is a tilt table test?
- The tilt-table test is a simple, inexpensive, and informative test that can help identify the causes of fainting.
- The tilt-table involves a table with foot supports that tilts in an upward position.
Why did the doctor order a tilt table test?
The tilt-table test is designed to detect the following causes:
- Fainting
- Lightheadedness
- Postural hypotension (orthostatic hypotension)
- Syncope
Who is the room during a tilt table?
- A nurse or technician
Venous ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of the veins in the body. It is commonly used to search for blood clots, especially in the veins of the leg – a condition often referred to as deep vein thrombosis.
What is the doctor looking for?
- Blockages to blood flow (such as clots)
- Narrowing of vessels
- Tumors and congenital vascular malformations
- Reduced or absent blood flow to various organs
Venous ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of the veins in the body. It is commonly used to search for blood clots, especially in the veins of the leg – a condition often referred to as deep vein thrombosis.
What is the doctor looking for?
- Blockages to blood flow (such as clots)
- Narrowing of vessels
- Tumors and congenital vascular malformations
- Reduced or absent blood flow to various organs
A renal artery ultrasound is a test that shows the renal arteries, the arteries that carry blood to the kidneys. Imaging of the renal arteries can be extremely difficult and this test is most often performed in the morning on a empty stomach.
Why did the doctor order this test?
- Patient might have early signs of kidney failure
- Patient might have uncontrollable blood pressure despite multiple medications.
An echo uses sound waves to create pictures of your heart’s chambers, valves, walls and the blood vessels (aorta, arteries, and veins) attached to your heart.
What is the doctor looking for ?
- The size and shape of your heart, and the size, thickness and movement of your heart’s walls.
- How your heart moves.
- The heart’s pumping strength.
- If the heart valves are working correctly.
- If blood is leaking backwards through your heart valves (regurgitation).
- If the heart valves are too narrow (stenosis).
- If there is a tumor or infectious growth around your heart valves.
A carotid ultrasound is a safe and painless test that produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. It is performed on the body’s two carotid arteries, which is located on each side of the neck.
Why is the doctor ordering this test?
- History of transient ischemic attacks or certain types of strokes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Family history of stroke
- Coronary artery disease
An arterial ultrasound shows blocked or reduced blood flow through the major arteries of your arms and legs.
Your doctor may order these tests if you have:
- Numbness and tingling sensations in your hands, feet and legs.
- A feeling of fatigue and heaviness in your arms and legs.
An abdominal aorta ultrasound is a non-invasive, painless test that uses high-frequency sound waves to image the “aorta” the main blood vessel leading away from the heart.
What is the doctor checking for?
- Abdominal structures
- Detecting a abdominal aortic aneurysm
- A weakened bulging spot in the abdominal aorta