Special Examination for Smokers

Risk testing for cardiovascular disease, ECG, Heart ECHO, MSCT lung scan and MSCT heart scan – coronary calcium scan

If you are a smoker or a former smoker, tobacco has certainly left consequences on your body. Smoking adversely affects almost all organs, including the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, oral cavity, reproductive organs, bones, bladder and digestive organs. According to certain data, every fifth death is a consequence of complications of chronic exposure to tobacco smoke.

Toxins from tobacco smoke damage blood cells and the interior of blood vessels and accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. Over time, atherosclerosis can lead to narrowing of blood vessels and a reduced supply of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues.

Advanced atherosclerosis of the blood vessels of the heart can be manifested by complications such as: chest pain, angina pectoris, heart attack, chronic heart failure and heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias). 

Any number of cigarettes, even occasional consumption, damages blood vessels. In passive smoking, regardless of the fact that a person does not smoke cigarettes, passive inhalation of tobacco smoke also introduces harmful substances. This is especially important to know for people who live or work with smokers, due to chronic exposure to tobacco smoke.

Your best decision today – Quit smoking.

Until you set a cessation date, it is advisable to perform certain examinations and laboratory tests more often than non-smokers.

Cardiologists of the Pulse Cardiology Center will monitor the warning signs of smoking-related diseases during the examination.

Pulse Cardiology Center, in accordance with the needs of patients, offers several carefully created cardiac examinations:

• Basic heart examination
• Total heart examination
• Preoperative cardiac evaluation
• Special examination for smokers
• Cardiovascular risk assessment

A health examination intended for smokers will determine the basic parameters that are affected by smoking. With careful selection, we have prepared important medical tests as part of the Special Examination for Smokers.

What does Special Smoker Examination mean?

A special examination for smokers includes a risk test for cardiovascular disease, ECG, Heart ECHO, MSCT lung scanner and MSCT heart scan – coronary calcium scan.

Risk testing for cardiovascular disease

At the Pulse Cardiology Center, the foundation of preventive cardiology begins with knowing the patient’s basic risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). After assessing the risk factors, the doctor informs the patient about the best ways to reduce the risk, whether it is a matter of lifestyle management or a decision on the inclusion and intensity of pharmacological therapy.

Smoking in itself is harmful enough, and if it is associated with other risk factors – elevated cholesterol levels, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, etc. the risk of developing the disease is further increased.

The Pulse Cardiology Center performs a cardiovascular risk assessment for:

• diabetes
• cholesterol
• obesity
• hypertension

CT of the lungs

Medical tests for smokers: CT scan of the lungs

Low-dose computed tomography or CT scanners are computer-processed X-rays (7 mSv radiation) that provide better diagnostic images, allowing doctors to detect problems, such as lung cancer, at earlier stages than with ordinary X-rays.

Early diagnosis of lung cancer can save lives, because surgery is often still possible in the early stages.

By the time they are discovered, 85% of lung cancers cannot be treated surgically – and surgery is the best treatment we have for treating lung cancer.

People with stage 1 lung cancer have a survival rate of 60% -70% five years after surgery. Later stages have only a 5% -30% survival rate.

Even if you have stopped smoking, you should take a test.

If you are a smoker over the age of 40 or have a history of at least 20 years of nicotine consumption (20 cigarettes a day for 20 years or 40 cigarettes a day for 10 years), you should do a CT scan, whether or not you still smoke.

Assessment of coronary calcium – CT of the heart

Medical tests for smokers: CT scan of the heart

A heart scan, also known as a coronary calcium scan, is a specialized X-ray test that provides images of your heart that can help your doctor detect and measure plaque in your arteries that contains calcium.

Plaque inside the arteries of your heart can grow and restrict blood flow to the heart muscle. Measuring calcified plaque with a heart scan can allow your doctor to identify possible coronary artery disease before you have any signs or symptoms.

Your doctor will use the test results to determine if you need medication or lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of heart attack or other heart problems.

ECG and Herat ECHO

Medical tests for smokers: CT scan of the heart

ECG is a basic method in cardiology and is routinely performed at almost every contact with the patient. The ECG itself records the electrical activity of the heart. This method allows us to check the heart rhythm and whether there is an arrhythmia, as well as whether there is any disturbance in the conduction of electrical impulses through the heart. Also, the ECG can show thickening or enlargement of some of the heart cavities (atria and ventricles), inflammation of the heart sac or the heart muscle itself. Furthermore, in patients with chest pain, the ECG can determine whether it is an acute myocardial infarction or not. Unfortunately, it cannot always show whether there are narrowing’s in the blood vessels of the heart in patients who do not have problems at the time of examination. From the ECG begins a cardiological examination, but does not end there.

Ultrasound of the heart should be performed in all patients who have symptoms of angina pectoris or have suffered an acute myocardial infarction, as well as patients who have had some surgery on coronary blood vessels. Cardiac ultrasound should also be performed on patients who get tired quickly and know about cardiac arrhythmia. With this examination, we look at the mobility of individual segments of the heart muscle, based on which we conclude what the nutrition of the heart muscle is, evaluate the strength of the heart muscle, look at the size of heart cavities and the presence of foreign masses in them.

Ultrasound must be performed in all patients in whom heart murmur is detected for the first time or in a worsening murmur. The most common cause of noise are changes in the valves that open and close and allow blood to flow between the heart cavities. These valves change with age and also under the influence of risk factors they become thicker, shrunken and calcified, so they do not close enough or do not open enough. According to the protocol, heart ultrasound is also performed in all patients who have been diagnosed with hypertension.

Regular control of detected changes is important, sometimes it is necessary to do a control ultrasound every four months.

Heart disease prevention

The basic way to prevent heart problems caused by tobacco smoke is to avoid smoking and passive exposure to tobacco smoke and regular check-ups.

• Stop smoking today!
• Set the end date.
• Tell family, friends and colleagues that you plan to give up.
• Anticipate and plan the challenges you will face as you give up.
• Remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, car and workplace.
• Talk to your doctor about seeking help to quit smoking