As part of a physical exam, your primary care provider will listen to your heart with a stethoscope. They may hear a heart murmur, a potential sign of a bicuspid aortic valve.
To investigate, your healthcare provider may order diagnostic imaging tests that allow for a closer look at the heart.
A chest X-ray takes pictures of your heart, lungs and arteries and can reveal signs of heart disease, such as enlarged areas or calcium deposits in your heart and fluid in your lungs.
This type of test records activity of the heart using high-frequency sound waves, or ultrasound. A technologist called a sonographer conducts this test by applying gel to your chest that makes it easier for sound waves to reach your heart. The sonographer will then wave a device called a transducer across your chest to send sound waves to your heart. The echo created by those waves is translated into images of your heart as it beats.
Providing information about your heart’s electrical activity, an electrocardiogram can help your provider understand your heart rate and whether you have an arrhythmia. Alternatively, your provider might ask you to wear a monitor for a day or two to record how well your heart’s circuitry is working.
Cardiac MRI uses magnets to create detailed images of the heart’s structure and show blood flow and heart valve function. Using cardiac MRI, your physician can diagnose heart valve disease by evaluating leaky or narrowed valves.
Additional tests and procedures can shed light on blood flow in the heart. These include cardiac catheterization and magnetic resonance angiography, a type of MRI test that uses dye to show the movement of blood.
