Athens Medical Center: International Certification of the Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory (Echocardiology) by the European Society of Cardiology (EACVI)
The Echocardiography Laboratory, Athens Heart Center of the Athens Medical Center received certifications from the European Society of Cardiology (EACVI), which concern, respectively, the performing diagnostic tests, specifically for the Triplex Cardiac, Stress Echo and Transesophageal Echocardiogram tests.
These certifications, valid for 5 years, constitute a reference point for the operation of a cardiac ultrasound laboratory (Laboratory Accreditation) and make the Athens Medical Center the only private hospital in Greece and one of the few in Europe to have them.
The above international scientific recognition comes as a culmination of the scientific training of the team’s doctors, the high-tech diagnostic equipment available to the laboratory, its location and operation, as well as the large number of tests performed each year, which exceed 8,000 per year.
With the help of the state of the art biomedical equipment available at the Echocardiology Laboratory, ultrasound examinations are performed daily to visualize the structures of the heart and investigate possible diseases.
More specifically:
- Triplex of the heart-Ascending Aorta-Aortic Arch:
Imaging of the structures and function of the heart. In addition, myocardial strain is studied, which is an early and very sensitive indicator, with application to a multitude of heart diseases. The ascending aorta and the aortic arch are checked for their morphology and functionality. The use of three-dimensional-3D technology is particularly helpful in this visualization.
- 2D and 3D Transesophageal Echocardiogram:
For investigating cardiac causes of strokes, visualization of thrombi, tumors, communications, valvular diseases, especially with 3D imaging.
- Stress echo with dobutamine (Dynamic Echocardiographic Study):
Stress Echo is a fast and effective examination, which utilizes ultrasound to check cardiac function under stress-fatigue conditions. It is performed using a specific protocol and gives us important information about both the overall and segmental function of the myocardium.
It is a test of choice for women and men which offers:
- Early and Valid diagnosis of coronary artery disease, in one or more vessels, in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease.
- Detailed prognosis of patients with known or unknown coronary artery disease, such as patients with diabetes mellitus, renal dysfunction, hypertension and elevated cholesterol.
- Comprehensive preoperative screening of patients who are about to undergo cardiac or non-cardiac surgery.
- Stress echo with ergometric bicycle:
It is performed for diagnostic purposes to investigate Dyspnea, Valvular Diseases, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, to check the Viability of the myocardial infarction, but also for the prognosis of patients.
At this point, we should emphasize that even after returning to normality, we must preserve our health, in case we had neglected it, due to the circumstances. The broader hospital environment, the organized structures and the personalized treatment, as they exist and are applied at the Athens Medical Center, but also in all the clinics of the Group, should be the criteria for our choice.
In each hospital of the Group, from a very early stage, special precautionary measures against COVID – 19 cases were implemented and are being implemented, which are updated for as long as necessary. In this way, our clinics continue their operation without interruption, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, based on the strictest approved health protocols.
