Cardiac Testing and Monitoring

Cardiac testing and monitoring services at Bothwell Regional Health Center include stress tests, electrocardiograms (EKGs), a simple test that records your heart’s electrical activity, 24-hour Holter monitoring, a continuous recording of a patient’s heart rhythms, and portable cardiac monitoring, which is available from 24 hours up to 30 days.

Echocardiograms are also used to help determine your heart’s size, evaluate how well it is functioning or pumping and assess the structure and function of the valves within the heart.

A wide variety of stress testing options are offered, ranging from basic treadmill stress testing, to pharmacological (drug-induced) stress testing. Both treadmill and drug-induced stress tests can be done in conjunction with additional imaging, providing more information about the health and strength of the heart muscle.

One stress test imaging option is nuclear medicine, which involves intravenous injection of a nuclear imaging agent along with pre- and post-stress pictures of blood supply to the heart muscle. Another stress test imaging option is echogradiography, which involves pre- and post-stress pictures taken with ultrasound, to visualize the heart valves and the strength and efficiency of the heart’s pumping mechanism.