Cardiac Services: Echo/EKG/Exercise Laboratory

Non-Invasive Cardiology
St. Christopher’s Section of Cardiology uses several non-invasive tests to diagnose children with potential heart problems and determine the best course of treatment. These procedures include:

• Electrocardiography(ECG/EKG), ambulatory electrocardiography monitoring (Holter monitoring) and transtelephonic event recording, pacemaker monitoring and defibrillator interrogations
• Exercise physiology, cardiopulmonary exercise testing and exercise echocardiography
• Tilt table testing to diagnose neurocardiogenic syncope
• Echocardiography
• Fetal echocardiography

Electrocardiography (ECG/EKG) Lab
The heart is in the simplest terms a pump made of muscle tissue that requires a source of energy in order to function. Its pumping action comes from a built-in electrical conduction system. An ECG/EKG is a basic non-invasive test performed to determine the rate and rhythm of the heart. During the procedure, an ECG technician places electrodes on your child’s arms, legs and across the chest. When the heart beats, it is recorded onto the graph paper on the ECG machine. ECGs are performed in the Heart Center as well as at our specialty care centers. Our cardiologists interpret the reading as normal or having abnormalities.

Exercise Physiology and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (Stress Testing)
Exercise testing uses a treadmill or a bicycle along with electrocardiographic and blood pressure monitoring to assess the function of a patient’s heart. It may be used for patients with a variety of congenital and acquired heart diseases. Stress tests are performed and monitored by an exercise technologist under the supervision of a pediatric cardiologist.

They can be used to assess ECG changes, investigate blood pressure response to exercise, and test for the presence of exercise-induced arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy and syncope. Exercise tests are performed concurrently with a lung function test, echocardiograms and nuclear medicine scans for certain patients.

Echocardiography (Cardiac Ultrasound)
Echocardiography (echo) is a non-invasive procedure that uses sound waves to assess the heart's structure and function without radiation. Our experienced pediatric echocardiography technologists and board-certified cardiologists perform and interpret echocardiograms for fetuses and children who are at risk for congenital and/or acquired heart disease.

In echocardiography, a small probe called a transducer, which sends out very high-frequency sound waves, is placed on your child's chest, abdomen and neck. When the transducer is placed in certain locations and at certain angles, the ultrasonic sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the heart tissues, where the waves bounce (or "echo") off of the heart structures. The transducer picks up the reflected waves and sends them to a computer that interprets them into two-dimensional images of the heart walls and valves. During the echocardiogram, Doppler imaging is used to assess the velocity of blood flow in the various structures of the heart.

Fetal Echocardiography
Fetal echocardiography is an ultrasound of the fetus and is performed on high-risk pregnant women beginning at 20 weeks gestation. Reasons include, but are not limited to, maternal history of diabetes, previous pregnancy with known issues or family history of congenital heart disease. A board-certified cardiologist performs and reviews the study with the mother and determines appropriate specialty referrals and postnatal treatment plans.

For more information, call (215) 427-4820.

Locations

Meet the Team

St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia has a highly qualified team of board-certified experts who are specially trained to work with the individual and unique needs of infants and pediatric patients.

Our team is led by C. Igor Mesia, Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory; Attending Cardiologist.

Physicians

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