Diagnosing Heart and Vascular Disease

Successfully Treating Thousands of Patients Every Year

Sharp uses many types of advanced nonsurgical diagnostic tests to determine whether a patient has heart, vascular and/or peripheral vascular disease, and to see how the disease is progressing.

Heart Disease
Diagnostic tests and evaluations for heart disease include:

  • Angiography
  • Cardiac calcium scoring
  • Cardiac catheterization
  • Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • Chemical stress test
  • Computerized tomography (CT) scan
  • Electrophysiology test
  • Electrophysiology study
  • Event recorder
  • Exercise stress test
  • Holter monitor
  • Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
  • Tilt table test
  • Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)

Vascular and Peripheral Vascular disease
Most tests for vascular and peripheral vascular disease do not require surgery. These tests and evaluations for vascular disease include:

Sometimes the results of a patient's nonsurgical test indicate that an additional test is needed. In that case, your physician may order an angiogram for further evaluation of the disease. During an angiogram, a colorless liquid dye is injected through small narrow tubes into selected vessels to visualize the location and extent of vascular disease.

For More Information
For more information about heart and vascular care at Sharp or to find a Sharp-affiliated doctor, search for a San Diego cardiologist or call 1-800-82-SHARP (1-800-827-4277), Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. To find general information about heart and vascular care, visit Cardiovascular Diseases in Adult Health or read the Heart and Cardiovascular News archive.