What happens when you come to our clinic?
When you or your GP make a referral, our team will gather the information we need about your family and make an appointment for you to come to the Heart House for screening. Before you come, we will work with you to gather all the family information we need, and if you have had a family member who has had a sudden cardiac death, we will obtain information on him or her.
The first day you come up, you will meet the nurse specialist, who will take some details. We will perform some or all of the following tests:
ECG : This is a reading of the electrical impulses travelling through your heart, measured through electrodes, which are placed on your skin. It takes only minutes to perform. Sometimes we will also perform a signal averaged ECG, which can take up to 20 minutes.
Echocardiograph: This is an ultrasound evaluation of your heart. A small ultrasound probe is used to ?look? at all the chambers and valves of the heart. A cardiac technician performs this test, and the doctor will give you the result when he or she sees you at your next visit. This test is especially good at looking for cardiomyopathy conditions.
Treadmill exercise test: This test involves you walking briskly on a treadmill, while we closely monitor your heart and blood pressure. It can take anything from 4 to 16 minutes.
Holter monitoring: A Holter monitor is a heart rhythm monitor, which patients wear for 24 hours. We can put it on you, and then you can go home and post it back to us the next day, for analysis. This test can show us if a person is having any arrhythmias.
On the second visit to the unit, you will see one of our consultant cardiologists, and he or she will take a history, perform a clinical evaluation, and review your test results with you. This is your opportunity also to ask any questions you may have.
He or she may also request some further evaluations, such as an ajmaline test or an MRI. An ajmaline test is a day case procedure where we administer a small dose of a medicine called ajmaline, whilst monitoring your heart to see if there is a channelopathy present. An MRI or magnetic resonance imaging scan can help us to visualise the heart better, to see if there is a cardiomyopathy there. Further tests may also be requested, as necessary. Your Heart House doctor will discuss these with you in detail.
Genetic testing: For some patients, genetic testing may be advised. This is particularly true in the case of conditions like Long QT syndrome, for which genetic testing is becoming increasingly reliable. Genetic testing must be performed in conjunction with a genetic specialist and a genetic counsellor. In the Mater Hospital Heart House, we refer patients who need genetic testing to the National Centre for Medical Genetics, in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and in Temple Street Children?s University Hospital, Dublin.
Caveats of screening: Family heart screening is a new speciality to Ireland. As with all screening tests, the screening process cannot outrule diagnoses with complete accuracy. Therefore, your Family Heart Clinic doctor may request that you re attend for repeat screening at a future time.
