Cardiovascular Diagnosis

Heart and vascular disease can take many forms and present a variety of symptoms. Often these symptoms are very subtle, and successful treatment begins with a thorough understanding of the patient’s history and risk factors.

Hackensack Meridian Health’s patients have access to the most sophisticated noninvasive and minimally invasive diagnostic tools used to detect and manage heart disease.

Diagnostic Capabilities

Noninvasive diagnostic techniques provide our cardiovascular experts with fast, accurate visualization and analysis of the heart and surrounding structures, and are typically safe and painless for patients who are at risk for heart disease. Some of these advanced imaging technologies include:

• Electrocardiograms
• Echocardiograms
• Cardiac stress tests
• Holter monitoring
• Nuclear stress tests
• Cardiac calcium scoring

Hackensack Meridian Health also offers patients throughout the region access to comprehensive Cardiac Catheterization Labs where interventional medical procedures are performed by our experienced team of interventional cardiologists, registered nurses, and cardiovascular technologists to diagnose and treat heart conditions, including:

• Coronary artery disease – Clogging of the arteries by fatty materials in the blood stream
• Valvular heart disease – Malfunction of one or more of the heart valves that can affect blood flow within the heart
• Congestive heart failure – A condition where the heart muscle has become too weak to pump efficiently
• Certain congenital heart conditions – Defects in one or more heart structures that are present from birth

The interventional cardiology team can also perform treatment procedures to help open a blocked artery. Some of those treatments include:

• Stents
• Embolic Protection
• Percutaneous Valve Repair
• Balloon Valvuloplasty
• Atherectomy
• Thrombectomy
• Angioplasty/Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
• Electrophysiology Ablations

And, Hackensack Meridian Health is continuously among the first to provide remarkable minimally invasive treatment and surgical options.

• WATCHMAN™ Left Atrial Appendage Closure
  Hackensack Meridian Health offers the WATCHMAN™ Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) Device at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. A life changing stroke risk treatment option, the WATCHMAN™ LAAC Device is a first-of-its-kind, proven alternative to long-term warfarin therapy for stroke risk reduction in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The device is implanted in the left atrial appendage of your heart to permanently close off this small pouch and keep harmful blood clots from entering your bloodstream. By closing off the left atrial appendage, the source of more than 90% of stroke-causing blood clots that come from the heart in people with non-valvular AF5, the risk of stroke may be reduced and, over time, you may be able to stop taking warfarin.
• Medtronic Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS)
  Micra TPS is the world’s smallest, minimally invasive cardiac pacemaker. It is a new type of heart device available at Jersey Shore University medical Center that treats patients with bradycardia, a common heart condition characterized by a slow or irregular heart rhythm. Unlike traditional pacemakers, the Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) is a miniaturized, fully self-contained pacemaker that delivers the most advanced pacing technology available to patients via a minimally invasive approach.
• Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Procedure
  Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), an innovative treatment option, is the latest minimally invasive procedure for patients with critical aortic stenosis being offered through Hackensack University Medical Center and Jersey Shore University Medical Center. This option is giving new hope to patients who have been determined to be inoperable due to other co-existing medical conditions. For most patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), the gold standard treatment is a surgical procedure known as Aortic Valve Replacement (AVR). Today, patients with severe AS who were once considered too high risk for traditional surgery can now explore other treatment options with Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).