'chest pain'

A pacemaker is a small device operated through a battery. It sends electrical impulses to the heart muscle to maintain a suitable heart rate and rhythm. A pacemaker may be used to treat fainting spells (syncope), congestive heart failure, and, rarely, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The pacemaker has two parts: the leads and a pulse generator. The pulse generator houses the battery and a tiny computer, and resides just under the skin of the chest. The leads are wires that are threaded through the veins into the heart and implanted into the heart muscle. They send impulses from the pulse generator to the heart muscle, as well as sense the heart's electrical activity. Each impulse causes the heart to contract. The pacemaker may have one to three leads, depending on the type of pacemaker needed to treat your heart problem.

Your heart’s arteries can become blocked or narrowed from a buildup of cholesterol, cells or other substances (plaque). This can reduce blood flow to your heart and cause chest discomfort. Sometimes a blood clot can suddenly form or get worse and completely block blood flow, leading to a heart attack. Angioplasty opens blocked arteries and restores normal blood flow to your heart muscle. It is not major surgery. It is done by threading a catheter (thin tube) through a small puncture in a leg or arm artery to the heart. The blocked artery is opened by inflating a tiny balloon in it.

Echocardiography, also called an echo test or heart ultrasound,is a test that takes “moving pictures” of the heart with sound waves. An echo uses sound waves to create pictures of your heart’s chambers, valves, walls and the blood vessels (aorta, arteries, veins) attached to your heart. A probe called a transducer is passed over your chest. The probe produces sound waves that bounce off your heart and “echo” back to the probe. These waves are changed into pictures viewed on a video monitor. Your doctor may use an echo test to look at your heart’s structure and check how well your heart functions. The test helps your doctor find out: The size and shape of your heart, and the size, thickness and movement of your heart’s walls. How your heart moves. The heart’s pumping strength. If the heart valves are working correctly. If blood is leaking backwards through your heart valves (regurgitation). If the heart valves are too narrow (stenosis). If there is a tumor or infectious growth around your heart valves.