Noninvasive Cardiology

Pauley Heart Center’s Noninvasive Cardiology Services section is the leading provider of diagnostic cardiovascular services in central Virginia. Patients have access to a full range of noninvasive diagnostic tests performed and evaluated by an experienced team of cardiologists and specialized technicians and nurses, using the most advanced equipment and technologies. Services include transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, exercise stress testing, exercise stress echocardiography, dobutamine stress echocardiography, contrast echocardiography, ambulatory Holter monitoring and electrocardiography.

More than 100 patients each day are evaluated for an array of cardiovascular conditions, for both diagnostic and management purposes, including coronary artery disease, valve disease, heart muscle disease, infections in the heart, abnormal heart rhythms and inherited heart disease.

A team of esteemed noninvasive cardiologists supervises all procedures in the Noninvasive Cardiology Laboratories. Medical Director, Dr. Hem Bhardwaj, Dr. Walter Paulsen, Dr. Michael Kontos, Dr. Naveed Naz, Dr. Roshanak Markley and Dr. Jeremy Turlington have distinguished themselves through their clinical experience, innovative research and exceptional teaching skills.

The Noninvasive Cardiology Laboratories are equipped with the most up-to-date diagnostic equipment, including sophisticated echocardiography machines for performing two and three dimensional echocardiograms, conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiograms, color flow mapping of these echocardiograms, and for obtaining and recording echocardiograms during stress testing, dobutamine infusion and contrast infusion. The laboratories are designed and staffed to perform and evaluate a large volume of transesophageal echocardiograms, stress electrocardiography, stress echocardiography and stress radionuclide studies.

The cardiologists and support staff of the Noninvasive Cardiology Laboratories are involved in new and ongoing research focused on equipment development, devices and drug interventions. The Lab faculty members collaborate on a variety of research projects with their colleagues in other areas of Cardiology, including Interventional Cardiology, Electrophysiology, Acute Cardiac Care and Heart Failure.