Services & Procedures

Maryland Heart, P.C. specializes in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in adult patients (age 18 and over) and conditions and offers a complete range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Our physicians are on the medical staffs of Suburban Hospital and Holy Cross Hospital.

Depending upon your medical needs, you may be directed to one of these facilities for testing or treatment. However, for your convenience, we offer many diagnostic tests or treatment procedures in our office.

Information About Your Diagnostic Procedure

At the time of scheduling a diagnostic procedure, all patients are provided with a written description of the test and instructions pertinent to that procedure. Please contact your referring physician (the physician who ordered the diagnostic test) for results.

Download Instructions on Stress Tests Perfomed in Office

  • Cardiac Stress Test
  • Nuclear Cardia Stress Test
  • Adenosine Cardia Stress Test

Procedures Conducted in Our Office

  • 24 hour Blood Pressure Monitoring
  • Abdominal Aortic Ultrasound
  • ABI
  • Cardiac Event Recorders
  • Carotid Ultrasound
    The use of ultrasonic waves to evaluate blood vessels in the neck that lead to the brain.
  • Coumadin Clinic
    During a scheduled visit with one of our Registered Nurses, a blood test will be taken and results reviewed. This blood test measures the time it takes for an individual’s blood to clot. Patients taking anticoagulants (Coumadin) need to have this test done regualarly.
  • Echocardiograms

    This procedure uses ultra-sound waves directed into the heart to take an image of what is happening. This image can then be analyzed to detect cardiac abnormalities.

    Echocardiograms are usually done for one of the following reasons:

    • Mitral Valve Prolapse
    • Heart Murmur
    • Congestive Heart Failure
    • Heart Attack
    • Chest Pain
    • Palpitations
    • Stroke
    • Fever
    • Low Blood Pressure

    The Echocardiogram is performed by a technician and reviewed by one of our cardiologists. The study takes between one-half and one hour depending on technical difficulty.

  • Electrocardiograms
    Your heart puts out electrical signals with each beat. An electrocardiogram, or EKG, is a way of measuring these signals and therefore monitoring your heart’s activity. From this the doctor can make a judgement on the relative health of your heart. An EKG can assess heart damage and disease.
  • External Counterpulsation (ECP)
  • Holter Monitors
    A holter monitor is a 24 hour heart monitor. It records your heart beat while you are doing everything you would normally do during the day and is able to record when you are more likely to experience symptoms. When you receive a holter monitor, 5 electrodes are placed on your body and hooked up to a device that looks somewhat like a walkman. Your heart’s activity is digitally recorded. While you are wearing the monitor, you will be given a diary, where you are to write each change in activity along with time and symptoms, if any. At the end of the 24 hour period you should remove the electrodes and return the unit to our office. The report will be written up and you will be contacted regarding the results.
  • Lipid Clinic
    During a schedule visit with out Nurse Practitioner, a blood test will be taken and results reviewed. The blood test results reveal the composition, volume and distribution of the types of fat found in the blood, including cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoproteins.
  • Nuclear Stress Tests

    This procedure is used to determine if you have an adequate blood supply to the different areas of your heart. This procedure requires approximately 2 ½ hours at the office on the day of your appointment.

    An intravenous line will be placed in your arm to allow the injection of radioisotopes. You will be given an injection of Thallium which is a small amount of radioactive material. Then you will lie flat on a table while images are taken by a camera.

    Then you will have EKG electrodes placed on your chest which you will wear during the treadmill test. You will then walk on a treadmill and a physician will be present during the exercise test. Patients who are unable to walk will be given a Persantine which is a form of chemical stress test. During the stress test another isotope, myoview will be given.

    Upon completion of the stress test, you will sit for about 15 minutes. Then you will be escorted back to the imaging room and asked to lie flat on the table. This will take about 15 minutes. This will conclude the test.

    Once all the imaging data has been obtained, it will be processed and the results read by the physician who performed the test. He/She will call you later that day to discuss the findings.

    Instructions prior to test:

    • Do not eat, drink or smoke for three hours prior to you appointment.
    • You should not have any caffeine containing products for 24 hours prior.
    • Please wear comfortable clothing.
    • Your doctor will notify you of instructions pertaining to your medications.
  • Office pacemaker analysis
  • Segmental Arterial Pressures
  • Stress Echocardiograms
    Performed in conjunction with a stress test to evaluate the heartmuscle at rest and immediately after exercise.
  • Telephonic pacer analysis
  • Treadmill Stress Tests

    This procedure is used to determine cardiac electrical activity, blood pressure, and symptoms before, during, and after exercise. Prior to exercising, the physician/nurse practitioner will determine how high your heart rate needs to be increased in order to get the desired information.

    • EKG electrodes will be placed on your chest to allow EKG readings before and during the test.
    • You will also wear a blood pressure cuff to allow blood pressure monitoring.
    • You will be asked to walk on a treadmill.
    • You begin walking very slowly.
    • Every two to three minutes the speed and/or elevation of the treadmill will be increased slightly.
    • Your blood pressure will be taken at each change.
    • Once the predetermined heart rate has been achieved, you will be asked to lie down.
    • Evaluation by EKG and blood pressure monitoring will continue as your heart returns to its resting state.
    • A physician/nurse practitioner and assistant will be present during all parts of the exercise test.

    Upon completion of the test, you will be given a brief report regarding the results. a final written report will be sent to the physician who requested the procedure.

  • Venous Ultrasound
  • VNUS Closure Procedure

    The VNUS® Closure procedure, an alternative treatment option to traditional vein stripping surgery, brings state-of-the-art technology to an age-old disease.

    The Closure procedure is performed on an outpatient basis. Using ultrasound, your physician will position the Closure catheter into the diseased vein, through a small opening in the skin. The tiny catheter delivers radiofrequency (RF) energy to the vein wall. As the RF energy is delivered and the catheter is withdrawn, the vein wall is heated, causing the collagen in the wall to shrink and the vein to close. Once the diseased vein is closed, blood is re-routed to other healthy veins.

    Following the procedure, a simple bandage is placed over the insertion site, and additional compression may be provided to aid healing. Your doctor may encourage you to walk, and to refrain from extended standing and strenuous activities for a period of time.

    Patients who undergo the Closure procedure typically resume normal activities within a day.

Procedures Conducted at the Hospital

  • EP Study
    A test that involves cardiac catheterization, in which a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel and all the way to the heart. There, it can measure the heart’s electrical activity and pathways.
  • Implanted Defibrilators
    Implanted in the chest area, an ICD is a battery-powered device that monitors and, if necessary, corrects an abnormal heart rhythm by sending electrical charges to the heart.
  • Implanted Biventricular Pacemakers and/or Defibrilators
    A device designed to treat heart failure. It synchronizes the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles) so that they pump together (bi-ventricular). This device may be combined with an implantable defibrillator (ICD).
  • Permanent Pacemakers
    Implanted in the chest area, an artificial pacemaker is a battery-powered device that monitors and, if necessary, corrects an abnormal heart rhythm by sending electrical charges to the heart.
  • Tilt Table Testing
    A test in which you lie down on a table, which is then tilted. It is used to help determine the cause of unexplained fainting (syncope).
  • Diagnostic Catheterization
    A procedure that examines the heart and is used to help physicians diagnose a heart problem and choose the most effective treatment. During this procedure, a physician can measure pressures inside the heart, evaluate the arteries delivering blood to the heart, and determine how well the heart is pumping. This is sometimes also called a coronary angiogram.
  • Balloon Angioplasty
    Also known as PTCA or Coronary Angioplasty is a procedure used to treat blockages in the coronary arteries. A balloon-tipped catheter is inserted into an artery to press plaque back against the vessel wall. This widens or unblocks the artery to restore blood flow.
  • Coronary Atherectomy
    A procedure that removes exceptionally hard (calcified) plaque that has built up on the walls of the arteries.
  • Intracoronary Stent Placement
    A procedure in which a wire mesh tube is inserted through a catheter and placed in an artery to hold it open. Stenting is usually performed right after a balloon angioplasty, while the catheter is still in place.
  • Peripherial Vascular Interventions
  • Transesophageal Echocardiograms
    A special type of ultrasound imaging procedure. A transducer placed on the end of a tube is passed down a person’s throat and into the esophagus. The esophagus is close to the heart, and images from TEE can give very clear pictures of the heart and its structures.
  • Cardioversion
    The process of converting one heart rhythm or electrical pattern to another. The term is usually used to describe the controlled application of an electrical shock to the chest wall in order to restore a normal cardiac rhythm.
  • Electrophysiology (EP) Ablation
    A procedure used to treat some types of rapid heart beating. A catheter with an electrode at its tip is guided to the area of heart muscle where there’s an extra pathway and a mild, painless radiofrequency energy is transmitted to the pathway. This causes the heart muscle cells in a very small area to lose electrical activity, which stops the area from conducting the extra impulses that causes the heart to beat too rapidly.

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