Services
Mercy Heart Center
Mobile Cardiovascular Services
The mobile cardiovascular services offered through Mercy Heart Center provide the following noninvasive cardiovascular services to the people of North Central Iowa at participating Mercy Health Network - North Iowa hospitals and clinics.
Echocardiography ("Echo")
A test that takes pictures of the heart using sound waves (a type of sonogram). These pictures are measured to determine heart chamber size, wall thickness, valve openings and closing times, as well as to see how efficiently the heart pumps. Special processing of sound waves, called Doppler, allows testing of the blood flow to find if any heart valves either leak or do not open properly.
Stress Echo
A test that is used to assess the blood flow through the coronary arteries (that supply the heart muscle) to find if there are any significant blockages. This exam looks at the main pumping chamber of the heart, the left ventricle, from four different angles. The patient then walks on a treadmill for several minutes to get their heart rate up to a target level and when the treadmills stops, they quickly lie down for a second set of pictures. The pre- and post- exercise pictures are compared to each other by a cardiologist; if there are differences in the way the heart walls contract, this can be an indication that there may be inadequate flow through the blood vessels that supply the region of muscle (i.e. a narrowing of the coronary artery).
Venous Study
Venous studies detect blood clots in the leg or arm veins. They are frequently ordered for painful or swollen extremities. Venous studies are non-invasive and cause no pain during the procedure.
Carotid Duplex
A test of the arteries in the neck, looking for narrowings of the blood vessels that supply the brain. Sound waves are used to make pictures and to check the blood flow through each vessel by Doppler processing.
Arterial Duplex
A test of the arteries in the legs (or arms) used primarily to check for blood clots within the blood vessels that return blood from the extremities to the heart. Sound waves are used to look at the blood vessels and Doppler processing is used to examine the blood flow in the veins.
For more information on Mercy Heart Center's
Mobile Cardiovascular Diagnostics, please call 641.422.7242, or 800.433.3883.
