Garden Park Medical Center has highly qualified and competent staff to ensure the best results for our patients.
Please call our Scheduling Department at (228) 575-7151 to schedule a procedure.
- Pulmonary Function Testing – for patients with shortness of breath or COPD
- Cardiac Stress Testing – for cardiac patients who have had chest pain
- Holter Monitoring – for cardiac patients
- EKG – for cardiac patients or pre-op patients
- EEG – for patients with memory loss, seizures, dizziness, confused, or neurological problems
- Evoke Potential Testing – used to assess visual and hearing problems
- EMG – for patients with diabetes, neuropathy, nerve damage, or carpel tunnel
An echocardiogram is a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. The picture is much more detailed than a plain x-ray image and involves no radiation exposure. An echocardiogram allows doctors to see the heart beating, and to see the heart valves and other structures of the heart. There are no special preparations for this procedure.
This test is done to evaluate the valves and chambers of the heart in a noninvasive way. The echocardiogram allows doctors to diagnose, evaluate, and monitor:
- Abnormal heart valves
- Atrial fibrillation
- Congenital heart disease
- Damage to the heart muscle in patients who have had heart attacks
- Heart murmurs
- Infection on or around the heart valves
- The pumping function of the heart for people with heart failure
- The source of a blood clot after a stroke or TIA
An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of your heart. You do not have any special preparations for this procedure.
An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is done to:
- Check the heart's electrical activity.
- Find the cause of unexplained chest pain, which could be caused by a heart attack.
- Find the cause of symptoms of heart disease, such as shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, or rapid, irregular heartbeats (palpitations).
- Check how well medicines are working and whether they are causing side effects that affect the heart.
- Check how well mechanical devices that are implanted in the heart, such as pacemakers, are working to control a normal heartbeat.
- Check the health of the heart when other diseases or conditions are present, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diabetes, or a family history of early heart disease.
A Holter monitor is a machine that continuously records the heart's rhythms. The monitor is usually worn for 24 - 48 hours during normal activity. There are no special preparations for this procedure. You will need to bath before this procedure, because the leads cannot get wet.
It may be used to diagnose:
- Atrial fibrillation or flutter
- Multifocal atrial tachycardia
- Palpitations
- Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia
- Reasons for fainting
- Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
- Ventricular tachycardia
Stress testing provides information about how your heart works during physical stress. Some heart problems are easier to diagnose when your heart is working hard and beating fast. Doctors usually use stress testing to help diagnose coronary heart disease (CHD). They also use stress testing to find out the severity of CHD.
During stress testing, you exercise (walk or run on a treadmill) to make your heart work hard and beat fast. Tests are done on your heart while you exercise. You might have arthritis or another medical problem that prevents you from exercising during a stress test. If so, your doctor may give you medicine to make your heart work hard, as it would during exercise. This is called a pharmacological stress test.
Special preparations for stress testing are:
- No food or drink after midnight
- No smoking
- No caffeine
- No medications after midnight (bring all your medications with you)
- Wear comfortable shoes and clothes, since you will walk on the treadmill