heart and blood vessel disorders
Atherosclerosis
Diagnosis of Atherosclerosis
Blood tests to look for risk factors for atherosclerosis Imaging tests to look for dangerous plaques How atherosclerosis is diagnosed depends on whether the person is having symptoms. People who have symptoms that suggest a blocked artery have tests to look for the location and extent of the blockage. Different tests are used depending on what organ seems to be involved. For example, if doctors suspect blockage of an artery in the heart, they typically do Electrocardiography (ECG), blood tests for substances ( People with atherosclerotic arteries in one organ often have atherosclerosis in other arteries. Therefore, when doctors find atherosclerotic blockage in one artery, for example in the leg, they usually do tests to look for blockage in other arteries, such as those in the heart. Doctors also test for certain risk factors in people who have an atherosclerotic blockage. For example, they measure the levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides in the blood. Doctors usually also do these tests as part of the routine yearly examination in adults. Because some plaques in arteries are more likely to break open and trigger a clot than others, doctors sometimes do tests to look for such dangerous plaques. No test is definitive, but doctors are using computed tomography (CT) angiography, intravascular ultrasonography (which uses an ultrasound probe on the tip of a catheter placed inside of an artery) during heart catheterization and coronary angiography, and a number of other imaging tests and blood tests. In people who have some risk factors for atherosclerosis but no symptoms, doctors usually do blood tests to measure the levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides in the blood. Doctors usually also do these tests as part of the routine yearly examination in adults. Some doctors recommend imaging tests to look for atherosclerotic blockage in people who have risk factors but no symptoms as part of a prevention strategy. Such tests include an electron beam CT of the heart and ultrasonography of the arteries in the neck (carotid arteries). CT can also be used to detect hardened (calcified) plaque in the coronary arteries. The result of this test is sometimes called the calcium score. Ultrasonography of the carotid arteries can detect thickening of the artery wall, which suggests atherosclerosis. However, many doctors think that these tests rarely change the advice they would give based on the person‘s other, more easily recognized, risk factors. 