A dedicated emergency services team, trained in acute coronary syndrome, is always on call. More →
See how the heart performs its amazing job, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More →
Yale-New Haven Heart Center’s Echocardiography Lab is equipped with the latest cardiac transthoracic and transesophageal ultrasound systems. Echocardiograms are acquired on 11 digital cardiac ultrasound machines by more than 15 certified sonographers. They are transmitted electronically to digital archives, enabling rapid review by six board-certified cardiologists and comparison with images from prior studies. The adult echocardiography service performs more than 12,000 transthoracic, 500 transesophageal, and 1,500 stress echocardiographic examinations per year.
The Echocardiography Lab also provides services to the West Haven Veterans Hospital and the Yale Cardiology practices in New Haven, Branford and Guilford.
The Nuclear Cardiology Lab at Yale-New Haven Hospital has developed many of the radionuclide imaging and stress lab techniques used widely throughout the world today. A staff trained in the use of diagnostic equipment, including hybrid Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), gated SPECT blood pool imaging amd first pass imaging, provides patients the best clinical cardiovascular imaging, as well as the development and translation of new targeted molecular imaging for personalized medical care.
The Nuclear Cardiology and Stress Lab performs over 7,000 clinical studies a year on both an inpatient and outpatient basis; most in conjunction with physical or pharmacological stress testing. Most stress tests are performed with radionuclide imaging. The lab also performs cardiopulmonary testing. On average, 4-5 patients a day are evaluated for acute chest pain by either resting SPECT imaging or stress testing in a dedicated Chest Pain Center located in the YNHH Emergency Department.
In the era of multidetector CT technology, cardiac CT has become an increasingly important tool in the evaluation of patients with cardiovascular disease. With 64-slice scanners, it is now possible to image the heart without motion in a single breath-hold. Complete, high resolution scans of the heart can be obtained in as few as five heart beats. Cardiac morphology, function, valvular pathology and coronary arterial plaque burden can be determined in a single, 30-second scan. Heart rate control is achieved pharmacologically with monitoring by trained personnel. Image interpretation is performed in an interdisciplinary fashiion, with expertise provided by both radiologists and cardiologists.
The Heart and Vascular Center has been a leader in Cardiac CT technology, with special expertise in reducing the radiation dose and tailoring use of intravenous contrast material for Cardiac CT imaging.
Accredited by the American College of Radiology, cardiac MRI at Yale-New Haven is an innovative service that provides patients with an effective method of determining causes of cardiac illness and malfunction. Cardiac MRI shows clear, detailed images of the heart and examines the size, thickness and viability of the heart muscle and function of the chambers. It can also help detect tumors or areas of infection on adult and pediatric patients. Patients who benefit from cardiac MRI include those with a history of heart attacks or strokes, unexplained arrhythmias, congenital heart or aortic disease.
Cardiac MR examinations may be performed as adjunctive studies to echocardiography and/or cardiac catheterization, or may be performed as independent examinations.
Download the Services and Outcomes Guide (PDF).