Cardiovascular Imaging

The appropriate use of cardiovascular imaging to assess the structure and function of the heart is critical to the successful management of any cardiac disorder. The Cardiovascular Imaging specialists at Stony Brook Heart Institute are dedicated to working with you and your physician to diagnose heart disease that affects the structure or function of your heart.

Our team, led by Dr. Smadar Kort, takes a multidisciplinary approach where we collaborate with interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to guide and minimize complications during many types of catheter-based procedures, such as percutaneous closure of atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale, and during heart surgery.

In addition to a full spectrum of traditional imaging procedures, Stony Brook Medicine features advanced imaging technologies, including 3D echocardiography, tissue Doppler and speckle tracking imaging.

Stony Brook Medicine also offers technologies and methods for looking at how your heart functions. These advanced cardiac imaging modalities include cardiac computed tomography (CT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We specialize in working with the lowest dose of radiation possible. This is particularly important in the evaluation of our younger and female cardiac patients. Cardiac MRI is considered the best method to evaluate heart structure, size, and function. This test uses a specialized cardiac-capable MRI scanner to evaluate the heart.

What is it?

Using cardiovascular imaging, cardiologists are able to see inside your body. These images can show the structure of your heart in great detail and show how your blood is flowing through your body. The images help your physician diagnose your heart or vascular condition. Imaging procedures sometimes use ultrasound, x-rays, magnetic field, and advanced computer software to create detailed images of the internal structures of the body or your heart. Some imaging techniques also use a contrast agent, a substance similar to a dye, that makes internal structures more clearly visible to the physician on a computer screen. Other tests, such as ultrasound, use high-frequency sound waves to visualize the blood flow through your arteries. These procedures are noninvasive, meaning that the physician does not have to make any incisions, they are relatively painless, and are often performed in an outpatient facility.

Services

The Cardiovascular Imaging section at Stony Brook Medicine offers the latest technology in a comfortable environment. To diagnose heart disease and help plan the best approach for your care, we offer:

  • Transthoracic echocardiogram
  • Transesophageal echocardiogram
  • Stress test using treadmill
  • Exercise stress echocardiography
  • Dobutamine stress echocardiography
  • Nuclear imaging studies, such as multigated acquisition scan (MUGA), positron emission tomography (PET), and nuclear exercise stress testing
  • Speckle imaging
  • 3D transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography
  • Tissue Doppler
  • Cardiac resynchronization imaging (CRT)
  • Pacemaker optimization under echocardiographic guidance

We also perform intracardiac echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography in the electrophysiology laboratory, catheterization laboratory and operating room to guide innovative invasive procedures and surgeries.

Our advanced cardiac imaging program offers:

  • Cardiac MR imaging including cardiac anatomy, tissue characterization, quantitative ventricular function, stress perfusion and function, high definition and time-resolved MR angiography, flow quantitative analysis, and cardiac viability evaluation; and
  • Cardiac CT imaging including calcium scoring, noninvasive coronary angiography, quantitative ventricular function, and cardiac anatomy and morphology evaluation.

Our Team

At Stony Brook Medicine, the physicians on our Cardiovascular Imaging team focus on your treatment and comfort. We work collaboratively with each other, your referring physician, and — most importantly — you to use our diagnostic information to help develop the best treatment plan for you. We stress a continuum of care as well as care coordination with your cardiologists and primary care physician. Our team offers decades of training and experience, insight from cutting-edge research, state-of-the-art facilities, and a patient-focused environment to provide you with superior outcomes and a positive patient experience.

  • Smadar Kort, MD, FACC, FASE, Director, Noninvasive Imaging; Director, Echocardiography
  • Jordan P. Katz, MD
  • Noelle Mann, MD
  • Howard S. Novotny, MD

For an appointment with one of our cardiovascular imaging experts, call:
(631) 444-TEST (8378)
 

Using Leading-Edge Technology To Lead the Way in Patient Care

The Heart Institute enhanced its computed tomography (CT) imaging capabilities with an advanced reconstruction technology that enables clinicians to capture high-quality images while reducing patient radiation exposure by up to 40%.

Stony Brook University Hospital is one of the first state hospitals in New York to provide the new low-dose CT technology, according to General Electric, the device manufacturer. Called Variable ASiR® Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction, the technology has been combined with the Hospital's GE LightSpeed® scanners to improve both speed and power for CT procedures.

"We are dedicated to not only offering exceptional image quality in diagnostic procedures, but also the highest levels of safety in the care we provide, and we are proud to use the latest in low-dose technology for our patients and the greater Long Island community," said Dr. Kort.

The Stony Brook Difference

The most important component of our service is caring for you. Your satisfaction is extremely important to us. We try to make the experience of coming to our outpatient facilities as pleasant and efficient an experience as possible for you. Our teams make every effort to see that your wait is short and comfortable.

The Heart Institute at Stony Brook Medicine was one of the first centers in the United States, the first on Long Island, and still the only center in Suffolk County that offers 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography. We are also one of the few centers in the area that can provide or offer a combination of most of the newer modalities, including speckle imaging and 3-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography.

All of the physicians in the Cardiovascular Imaging section at the Heart Institute at Stony Brook are board-certified in cardiology and at least one additional imaging subspecialty. All are members of the various subspecialty local and national organizations, while some are leaders of these organizations. All of our sonographers are registered sonographers.

Our echocardiographic laboratories are accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL) in all subspecialties in echocardiography for adult, pediatric, and fetal imaging. Our nuclear laboratory is also accredited through the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories (IACNL).

As recognized experts and leaders in the field of advanced cardiac imaging, our highly skilled physicians and imaging specialists at the Advanced Cardiac Imaging section offer a fellowship program to train future specialists in the techniques and appropriate use of cardiac CT and cardiac MR.

For an appointment, call:
(631) 444-TEST (8378)