Arteriosclerosis / Atherosclerosis

To diagnose atherosclerosis, your healthcare professional examines you and listens to your heart. You usually are asked questions about your symptoms and your family health history. You may be sent to a doctor trained in heart diseases, called a cardiologist.

Your healthcare professional may hear a whooshing sound when listening to your heart with a stethoscope.

Tests

Tests may be done to check the health of your heart and arteries. Tests can help diagnose atherosclerosis and find the cause.

• Blood tests. Blood tests can check blood sugar and cholesterol levels. High levels of blood sugar and cholesterol raise the risk of atherosclerosis. A C-reactive protein (CRP) test also may be done to check for a protein linked to inflammation of the arteries.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This quick and painless test measures the electrical activity of the heart. During an ECG, sticky patches with sensors on them attach to the chest and sometimes to the arms or legs. Wires connect the sensors to a machine, which displays or prints the results. An ECG can show if there’s reduced blood flow to the heart.
• Exercise stress tests. These tests often involve walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike while the heart’s activity is watched. Because exercise makes the heart pump harder and faster than it does during most daily activities, an exercise stress test can show heart conditions that might otherwise be missed. If you can’t exercise, you may get medicine that affects the heart like exercise does.
• Echocardiogram. This test uses sound waves to show blood flow through the heart. It also shows the size and shape of the structures of the heart. Sometimes an echocardiogram is done during an exercise stress test.
• Doppler ultrasound. A healthcare professional may use a special ultrasound device to check blood flow at different points in your body. The test results show the speed of blood flow in the arteries. This can reveal any narrowed areas.
• Ankle-brachial index (ABI). This test compares the blood pressure in the ankle with that in the arm. It’s done to check for atherosclerosis in the arteries in the legs and feet. A difference between the ankle and arm measurements may be due to peripheral artery disease.
• Cardiac catheterization and angiogram. This test can show if the coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked. A doctor places a long, thin flexible tube in a blood vessel, usually in the groin or wrist, and guides it to the heart. Dye flows through the catheter to arteries in the heart. The dye helps the arteries show up more clearly on images taken during the test.
• Coronary calcium scan, also called a heart scan. This test uses computerized tomography (CT) imaging to look for calcium deposits in the artery walls. A coronary calcium scan may show coronary artery disease before you have symptoms. Results of the test are given as a score. The higher the calcium score, the higher the risk of heart attacks.
• Other imaging tests. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) or positron emission tomography (PET) also may be used to study the arteries. These tests can show hardening and narrowing of large arteries, as well as aneurysms.