Heart Tests

Heart imaging tests take pictures of your heart or its arteries or blood vessels to help your doctor see whether there are any problems. Cardiac CT scanA cardiac computed tomography (CT) scan, also called a "CAT scan,” is a painless, non-invasive imaging test that uses X-rays to take many detailed pictures of your heart and its blood vessels. Computers can combine these pictures to create a three-dimensional (3D) model of your whole heart. This imaging test can help doctors find heart diseases or problems with the heart or blood vessels supplying blood to the heart or the rest of the body. This test may also be used to check the results of coronary artery bypass grafting or to follow up on abnormal findings from earlier chest X-rays. You may go to a medical imaging facility or a hospital for a cardiac CT scan. The scan itself usually takes only about 15 minutes. However, it can take more than an hour to prepare for the scan, including time to take medicines such as beta blockers to slo...