If your doctor refers you for cardiac imaging, your test will be performed in a hospital or specialized radiology clinic at Dignity Health. During the test, you will lie on a table that slides through the MRI or CT machine. 

During cardiac imaging, a contrast dye may be injected into your bloodstream to help track the flow of blood through your heart and blood vessels. If you have an MRI or CT  with contrast, it is called an angiography.  When the dye is injected, you may feel a slight burning sensation at the injection site, a warm feeling throughout your body, or a metallic taste in your mouth, lasting for just a few seconds. If the imaging test requires contrast dye, be sure to tell your health care provider ahead of time if you have ever had a reaction to dye or contrast, or if you have kidney problems.

An MRI typically lasts about 30 to 90 minutes. A CT scan generally lasts less than 30 minutes. Your health care provider will ask if you have any electronic implants inside your body before your test begins. Advanced Cardiac Imaging Recovery    Unless you have had sedation during your test, you will be able to return to normal activities after an MRI or CT scan. With sedation, you might need someone to drive you back home. Your doctor will give you special instructions based on your individual needs.

Dignity Health offers a wide range of radiology services, such as cardiac MRI and CT, for advanced cardiac imaging in Arizona. 

For more information about cardiac imaging, speak with a health care provider at Dignity Health.

Vascular conditions can be caused by structural problems with blood vessels, genetic abnormalities, and many other underlying medical conditions. Some lifestyle choices, such as smoking, can increase your risk of developing a vascular condition. A family history of certain vascular diseases can also raise your risk.

The symptoms of vascular conditions depend on the specific veins or arteries affected. Symptoms range from fatigue and mild pain to trouble breathing. Some conditions affect your entire vascular system. These are  called “systemic” vascular conditions. Vasculitis, or inflammation of the blood vessels, is one example.

Vascular conditions include: 

• Blood clots and occlusions
• Aortic aneurysms, including abdominal aortic aneurysm and thoracic aortic aneurysm
• Lymphedema
• Carotid artery disease
• Marfan syndrome
• Vascular dementia
• Coronary artery disease
• Peripheral artery disease, also called PAD or peripheral vascular disease
• Chronic venous insufficiency, including spider veins and varicose veins
• Limb ischemia
• Pelvic venous congestion syndrome
• Raynaud’s disease
• Giant cell (temporal) arteritis
• Renal artery stenosis
• Deep venous thrombosis (DVT)

The treatment of any vascular condition depends on your overall health and the severity of the condition. The goals of treatment can be to slow the progression of the condition, relieve symptoms, or prevent complications of the disease. Your risk of developing some vascular conditions can be lowered by making heart-healthy lifestyle choices, including getting regular exercise and quitting smoking. These practices may also help prevent the disease from getting worse.

Dignity Health provides cardiovascular treatment for vascular conditions in Arizona.

Common cardiovascular treatments include the following: 

• 3D mapping tracks the electrical activity of your heart muscle to help pinpoint the source of a heart arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat).
• Ablation, or cardiac ablation, selectively destroys cells in your heart causing an arrhythmia. Cryoablation uses extremely cold liquid.
• Angioplasty can increase blood flow to your heart by inflating a tiny balloon inside blocked coronary arteries.
• Cardiac catheterization is a procedure to look inside the arteries of your heart. If an artery is blocked, doctors can perform angioplasty or place a stent to keep the artery open.
• Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery replaces a blocked area of a coronary artery using part of a healthy artery from your leg or arm.
• Endovascular stent, or heart stent, is a small tube placed inside a blocked coronary artery to hold it open and increase blood flow to your heart tissue.
• Heart transplant replaces a diseased heart with a donor organ.
• Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a mechanical pump that helps a weakened heart work better.
• Open heart surgery is any cardiovascular surgery, such as CABG, that requires accessing the heart through the chest by making an incision in the breastbone (sternum).
• Pacemaker is a medical device implanted in your chest that helps your heart maintain a normal rhythm.
• Thrombolysis uses “clot-busting” medications.

At Dignity Health, our cardiologists work within a team of specialists, nurses, technicians, therapists, and dietitians to provide complete, whole-person care.

Most cardiovascular procedures are performed in a hospital or surgical center. You may receive either light sedation or general anesthesia. Depending on the type of procedure you may or may not stay overnight.. Please ask your Physician if you will need to plan to stay overnight or go home same day of procedure.  You will need someone to drive you home after your procedure.

It’s important to discuss the risks and benefits of any cardiac procedure with your doctor.

Minimally invasive cardiovascular treatments require less recovery time than major procedures, such as open heart surgery. You will receive specific instructions and guidelines regarding your recovery from your doctor. 

Cardiovascular treatments can be life-saving procedures. You may feel more energetic than you have for a long time because your heart is functioning better.

Dignity Health provides leading-edge cardiovascular treatments and procedures in Arizona.

Our cardiac specialists will identify all of your modifiable risk factors (things you can start to change immediately) and create a treatment plan to help you work through and change them. Our team works with you and your family to help you through the emotional and physical aspects of heart disease, and addresses lifestyle changes that are essential to helping you lead an active, healthy life. You will also begin to do low-level exercise activity.

During this phase, you will come to the hospital three times a week for a one-hour, monitored exercise program designed specifically for you. You will be hooked up to a telemetry monitor while exercising to track your heart rate and heart rhythm. A registered nurse and exercise physiologist will supervise your exercises, which may include walking on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike and other gym equipment.

You and your family will also attend our group education sessions to learn more about heart disease. Sessions include:

• Diet and healthy eating-instructed by registered dieticians, learn the ins and outs of low-fat cooking and tips on ordering meals in restaurants
• Physical Fitness-taught by our exercise physiologist, learn how to increase activity levels and exercise at home
• Anatomy and physiology of the heart-learn from one of our registered nurses how the heart works and how your prescribed cardiac medications will help with your road to recovery

Our maintenance program provides you with continued guidance and support for the progress you achieved during Phase II. Through this self-pay program, you can continue an unmonitored exercise routine two times per week. If you are at a high risk of developing heart disease, you may participate as well with a doctor's referral.

For more information, or to make a cardiac rehab appointment, please call (480) 728-3139 for East valley and (602) 406-6000 for West Valley.

Your heartbeat is controlled by a series of electrical impulses traveling within the heart. If these electrical impulses are firing out of sync or if the heart is producing extra impulses, the heartbeat will be irregular. Electrophysiology procedures are used to treat these conditions. The four primary types of electrophysiology procedures include: 

• Cardioversion — mild shocks to the heart normalize your heartbeat
• Pacemaker — a device regulates your heart rhythm with electrical impulses
• ablation — heat selectively eliminates heart cells that are sending errant electrical signals
• Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) — produces an image of your beating heart using sound waves

We know planning a heart procedure can be scary, but you can rest easy when having an electrophysiology procedure performed at a Dignity Health hospital. Our team of specialists, nurses, therapists, and technicians are dedicated to making your experience as pleasant and safe as possible. 

Electrophysiology procedures are generally considered low-risk, and you may even be released the same day. However, depending on your specific procedure, you may have to stay a night with us for monitoring.

For a few days directly following your electrophysiology procedure you may have an achy chest and a surgical incision to care for, but most people heal quickly. Be aware that your heart may still beat erratically during strenuous activity. Be sure to follow any post hospitalization instructions.  Our team will provide you with all the information you need.  

Serving patients with personalized care, Dignity Health offers solutions for arrhythmia with electrophysiology in Arizona.

Pulsed field ablation is an FDA-approved outpatient procedure used to treat AFib. The minimally invasive procedure uses pulsed electrical fields rather than traditional thermal ablation (a procedure that uses heat to remove tissue in the heart) techniques. A PFA system delivers precise pulsed electric fields through an ablation catheter, which interrupt irregular electrical pathways in the heart that trigger AFib. PFA’s pulsed electric fields efficiently isolate pulmonary veins and surrounding structures, which can result in a lower risk of collateral tissue being impacted during treatment.

• Lower risk: By using pulsed electric fields instead of thermal energy, the PFA system minimizes the risk of injury to adjacent tissues.
• Effective pulmonary vein isolation: The PFA system efficiently targets and isolates the pulmonary veins, which are often responsible for triggering AFib.
• Outpatient procedure: This non-thermal approach allows for the treatment of AFib in an outpatient setting, offering convenience and reduced recovery time for patients.