Medical Tests & Procedures Archive

Both surgical and nonsurgical options can prevent stroke.

The same process that causes obstructions in the heart's arteries can block the carotid arteries in the neck, a disease known as carotid stenosis. If these interfere with blood flow, a stroke can occur.

Symptoms of pending stroke (see box) usually require treatment to reduce the risk. One option calls for opening the artery and removing the plaque—a surgical procedure known as endarterectomy. A less-invasive option, called carotid stenting, involves inserting a catheter into an artery in the groin, advancing it to the carotid artery, opening the blockage with a balloon, and leaving behind a wire cage (or stent) to hold the artery open.

Simple procedures can eliminate the condition.

Varicose veins are more than just unsightly. They raise your risk of skin ulcers and superficial blood clots if left untreated. Fortunately, there have been some real breakthroughs in treatment in recent years. "Treatment used to be very involved, requiring general anesthesia and a trip to the operating room, but now it's just an office procedure," says Dr. Sherry Scovell, a vascular surgeon and instructor in surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Advanced device buys time until a transplant can be performed.

Like other people with advanced heart failure, Jim Carelli, Jr., suffered from severe shortness of breath and fatigue. With a heart unable to pump a sufficient amount of blood to his organs, his kidneys began to fail, and he swelled with fluid. He needed a heart transplant, or he would die.

Many people who don't need a drug-eluting stent during angioplasty get one anyway. More appropriate use would save $200 million a year in the cost of the stents plus the medications that must be taken afterwards.

Q. I have hyperthyroidism and my doctor wants me to undergo radioactive iodine treatment. It seems a bit scary. Must I do it?

A. Depending on the cause of your overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), radioactive iodine treatment may be a good option for you, but you have other choices.

Try these tips to get more life out of your own joints.

In the 1970s TV series The Bionic Woman, secret agent Jaime Sommers' legs and right arm were rebuilt with bionic parts after she was injured during a skydiving accident. The new parts came in handy when she needed to, say, outrun a pack of vicious dogs or jump rivers.

Here's what you need to keep in mind.

If you have a heart condition or concern, your doctor may discuss different ways to diagnose or monitor it, including an electrocardiogram (ECG), cardiac catheterization, echocardiogram (ultrasound), radionuclide stress test, coronary CT angiogram, radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging, or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These tests provide valuable guidance in diagnosing and treating heart disease. But some of them also expose you to ionizing radiation, which can potentially damage cells and increase the risk of cancer. Although no direct link between cardiac imaging tests and cancer has been confirmed, doctors are taking steps to limit the amount of radiation these tests deliver.

Scientists are transforming stem cell science into stem cell medicine.

Many diseases involve the death of specialized cells that the body cannot naturally replace. A heart attack suddenly kills heart muscle cells. A stroke suddenly kills—and Alzheimer's disease slowly kills—brain cells. A perfect treatment would replace these lost cells, with cells exactly like them, but the body cannot do that on its own.

Research studies can give you access to breakthrough treatments.

In January 2007, Debbera Drake got the news every woman dreads. She had stage-four breast cancer. One doctor she'd sought for a second opinion told her she had just two years to live.

Transcatheter procedure eliminates surgery for some.

Cardiologists are increasingly enthusiastic about a new technique for replacing failing aortic valves without open-heart surgery. As discussed in the February 2012 Harvard Heart Letter, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) lets a new valve be delivered to the heart through a catheter inserted in an artery in the groin. In clinical trials at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and 24 other academic medical centers, TAVR was clearly beneficial in very sick people with damaged aortic valves who were poor candidates for surgery. Interest in the technique continues to grow, since the results of TAVR in healthier people with valve disease are encouraging.

"TAVR is the most exciting therapeutic innovation in cardiovascular disease in the past 20 years. I have patients whose downhill course has been completely reversed by this technology," says Dr. Andrew Eisenhauer, director of the interventional cardiovascular medicine service at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.