Residents of the North Corridor between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids will have a more convenient location for receiving diagnostic heart testing and consultation with the opening of a UI Heart and Vascular Center outreach clinic. The new clinic will be offered every other Tuesday starting March 1 at the UI Family Care Center, North Liberty.
UI Family Care Center, North Liberty, is located at 3 Lions Drive. If you are interested in an appointment, call UI Heart and Vascular Center scheduling at 319-356-8930 or 877-891- 5350.
"Despite recognition of the problem and intensive efforts to treat and prevent the disease, heart disease still causes 42 percent of all deaths in Iowa," said Neal Weintraub, M.D., medical director of UI Heart and Vascular Center and interim director of cardiovascular diseases at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.
"By partnering with family physicians at UI Family Care, North Liberty, we hope to offer the community convenient access to our cardiovascular specialists in order to help reduce the incidence and consequences of heart disease."
Diagnostic Testing
The clinic will evaluate patients for heart disease and provides convenient on-site diagnostic testing and consultations rather than requiring a separate appointment at the hospital.
Testing includes:
Echocardiography
Echocardiography (echo) forms a picture of your heart valves and heart structure with ultrasound or high frequency sound waves. An echo shows the size, shape, and motion of your heart structures. It also graphs the cycle of pumping and valve movement. It is useful for evaluating chest pain, shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, irregular heartbeats, and fainting spells. Your pulse and blood pressure are monitored to give the doctor a more complete picture of what is happening with your heart.
Stress echocardiography
Stress echocardiography resembles routine echocardiography except that images of your heart are taken immediately following exercise. It is an accurate test to determine the cause of chest pain or shortness of breath that occur during stressful activity. During this test, an echo is taken before and after you walk on a treadmill, while an electrocardiogram (EKG) monitors heart rhythm. Doctors also monitor your pulse and blood pressure to give a more complete picture of what is happening with your heart.
Treadmill Stress Testing
A treadmill stress test records your heart's electrical activity while you walk on a treadmill. This test can help to determine the cause of chest pain or shortness of breath, and it might uncover heart rhythm problems that cannot be found on an EKG taken at rest. It can also help decide how much exercise is safe for you. During an EKG, patches are attached to the skin and the results are recorded on a strip of paper. Pulse and blood pressure are monitored while you exercise.
Holter monitoring and event monitoring
These tests diagnose irregularities of heart rhythm. For Holter monitoring, EKG leads are placed and hooked to a monitor that you wear on a belt and that continuously records your heart rhythm for one to two days. You then return the device to the clinic for analysis. Event monitoring is performed for longer periods (up to one month) with a small device that is generally worn on the wrist. When you experience symptoms of irregular heartbeat, you push a button to activate the device and then transmit the EKG over your telephone for analysis.
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