Your provider may suspect you have a heart valve problem if they hear a heart murmur when listening to your heart. Having a heart murmur doesn’t always mean something is wrong, but if you have other symptoms or risk factors for heart valve disease, your provider may recommend specific tests or diagnostic procedures.
UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute consolidates advanced cardiovascular imaging into one comfortable outpatient setting. These non-invasive, essentially painless procedures provide valuable information about the structure and function of your heart. Advanced cardiac imaging includes cardiac CT, MRI, PET and echocardiography.
The most common test to diagnose heart valve disease is an echocardiogram, an exam that takes pictures of your heart using sound waves. The images can tell your provider whether your heart is pumping blood as it should and what could be causing a heart murmur.
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.
An electrocardiogram can identify signs of heart valve disease, such as an arrhythmia, by measuring your heart’s electrical activity.
A stress test measures certain indicators of heart health while stressing your heart through exercise or medications. Certain heart conditions are easier to diagnose when your heart is under stress, and a stress test gets your heart beating hard under controlled conditions.
