Heart

Dr. Leon also performs minimally invasive procedures to restore blood flow to lower extremities at his state-of-the-art outpatient endovascular facility. Click on the button below to learn more about the San Angelo Cardiovascular Center of Excellence

Pacemaker & Defibrillator Surveillance

Cardiology Associates of West Texas can check the general status of your pacemaker or defibrillator (sometimes simply by phone) to make sure it is functioning correctly. If you live in San Angelo and have a pacemaker, call us today at 325-944-1240 to schedule regular check ups.

Holter Monitor MG/Event Monitoring

Some patients are asked to wear the Holter monitor. The monitor is a portable device that continuously records the heart's rhythm over a 24 hour period as it monitors all types of arrhythmias and silent ischemia. Along with wearing the device, patients will be asked to keep a diary that the physician uses to match your activities with symptoms and heart rhythms. In addition, The Event Monitor, is available and is a 30 day auto-triggered monitor to catch those occasional symptoms and arrhythmias.

Echocardiography

Using sound waves, an echocardiogram produces a picture of the heart and the valves in motion. An image is transmitted as a hand-held device is moved across the chest. It is recorded for analysis by our physicians. These Echocardiograms can reveal the heart strength, heart valve problems, cause of enlarged hearts, as well as congenital heart defects, pericardial disease and effects of coronary disease.

Stress Exercise Echocardiography

This test offers more diagnostic details about how exercise affects your heart using a combination of treadmill testing and echocardiography.

Stress Testing

Treadmill testing evaluates the heart's response to physical exercise and its purpose is to evaluate the heart for blockages of the coronary arteries. The treadmill you will walk on gradually increases in speed and elevation. EKG, heart rate rhythm, blood pressure and symptoms are monitored by a physician, nurse or cardiovascular technician during the test.

Pharmacologic Stress Testing

Because some patients may not be able to walk on a treadmill safely, we will perform pharmacologic stress testing. A pacemaker, abnormal resting EKG, and certain medications can also interfere with the accuracy of treadmill testing. This involves a 6-minute infusion of a medication called Persantine or a single dose of Regadenoson. When given for stress tests, these increase blood flow to the heart and provides similar information regarding coronary artery disease as does walking on a treadmill. After that, we take pictures of the heart muscles using a nuclear camera to allow access to the pumping function of the heart, show the size and location of any prior heart attacks and evaluate the pumping function of the heart, nuclear cardiology examinations are used. Nuclear cardiology is widely used to establish the diagnosis of heart disease, measure the disease extent, and plan treatment. These tests are safe and noninvasive.

Imaging uses very small doses of a radioactive imaging agent that is injected into the blood stream. During the examination, you will be asked to rest on a scanning table. A camera will focus on the heart for approximately 10 minutes and measure the amount of imaging material that is taken up by the heart muscle. This is done before and after the treadmill stress test or pharmacological infusion as described above.

Positron Emission Tomography(PET)

Cardiology Associates of West Texas exclusively offers mobile cardiac Positron Emission Tomography(PET) imaging to the San Angelo area. This new option poses key clinical advantages over SPECT nuclear imaging stress tests and extreme prognostic value in the detection of early coronary artery disease. The benefits to the patient are vast. The test is quicker, conveniently located, has low radiation exposure, more patient comfort and generates a higher quality image scan than conventional stress tests resulting in greater diagnostic accuracy. We’ve had a very positive response for the cardiac stress test with PET nuclear imaging from the referring physicians and patients. We are able to offer this advanced service locally eliminating the need for patients to travel hours to receive quality care.