Common Heart Tests

Here are some brief articles that describe the most commonly used heart tests:

General Heart Tests

These tests are commonly used as a general "screen" for heart disease:

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

Echocardiogram

Tests for Coronary Artery Disease

These tests are commonly used to diagnose coronary artery disease:

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

Stress Testing

Thallium and Cardiolyte Testing

MUGA Scan

Calcium Scans

Multislice CT Scan

Cardiac MRI

Cardiac Catheterization and Angiography

Tests for Structural Heart Disease

These tests are commonly used to diagnose structural heart disease, such as heart failure, valvular heart disease and congenital heart disease:

Echocardiogram

Trans-esophageal echocardiogram

MUGA Scan

Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac MRI

Tests for Heart Arrhythmias

These tests are commonly used to detect and diagnose heart rhythm disturbances:

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

Holter and Event Monitoring

Electrophysiology Study (EP Study)

_Sources:

Garber AM, Solomon NA. Cost-effectiveness of alternative test strategies for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Ann Intern Med 1999 May 4;130(9):719-28.

Lee KL, Pryor DB, Pieper KS, et al. Prognostic value of radionuclide angiography in medically treated patients with coronary artery disease. A comparison with clinical and catheterization variables. Circulation 1990 Nov;82(5):1705-17.

Lima JA; Desai MY. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging: current and emerging applications. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004 Sep 15;44(6):1164-71.

Rahimtoola, SH, Zipes, DP, Akhtar, M, et al. Consensus statement of the Conference on the State of the Art of Electrophysiologic Testing in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Cardiac Arrhythmias. Circulation 1987; 75:III3.