Understand Tests You Take Home

Have you ever made an appointment with your physician only to find that once you are in the office the problem you’ve been having has gone away? Sometimes a “snapshot” of your heart’s health at the moment you are in the office or hospital is not enough to demonstrate your symptoms. Your cardiologist may need information about how your heart is performing over time to make a diagnosis.

In cases such as this, you may be sent home with one of several types of monitors to record data about your heart’s performance over a couple of days, a month, or sometimes longer. Your cardiologist or another medical specialist will interpret this data to see if it suggests a diagnosis that may need to be confirmed with additional testing.

The list below contains common tests performed at home that are used to diagnose cardiovascular disease. In-office and in-hospital tests may be performed as well.