Echocardiography. The Imaging Program performs up to 7,000 echocardiograms a year. New modalities include 3-Dimensional transthoracic and 3-Dimensional transesophageal echocardiograms. Stony Brook has one of the few labs in the country to offer this capability. The echocardiography laboratories are fully accredited for all procedures. Physicians are board-certified and staff, including stenographers and echocardiologists, have met national board requirements.
Cardiac MRI. This assesses cardiac function, viability and health of heart muscle — important not only diagnostically but also to help determine subsequent course of treatment. Stony Brook has pioneered MRI angiograms for assessment of pulmonary hypertension, a commonly misdiagnosed condition that can lead to heart failure.
Tissue Doppler imaging. This highly sensitive modality measures the velocity of myocardial motion, which can detect abnormalities in heart muscle function before a patient develops symptoms.
Nuclear stress tests. Done in conjunction with Stony Brook’s Department of Nuclear Medicine, approximately 1,000 per year are performed in the hospital or at the two outpatients sites in Setauket and Islandia.
