Iowa Health Cardiology

Your heart deserves the very best care, with top quality, safety and a high level of customer service. Iowa Health Cardiology provides state-of-the-art technology in a comfortable setting with knowledgeable, compassionate staff. Our physicians have board-certifications in most cardiac sub-specialties. They're able to coordinate virtually everything you need - tests, surgeries, advanced clinical procedures and rehabilitation - to keep your heart healthy and strong.

Iowa Health Cardiology Receives Nuclear Cardiology Accreditation

Iowa Health Cardiology located in West Des Moines, Iowa has been granted a three-year term of accreditation in Nuclear Cardiology by the lntersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories (ICANL).

Nuclear cardiology studies use noninvasive techniques to assess myocardial blood flow, evaluate the pumping function of the heart, and visualize the size and location of a heart attack.

"Diagnosing myocardial ischemia prior to a heart attack is important, because ischemic heart disease is responsible for approximately 14 percent of all deaths worldwide," said Dr. Saima Zafar, a Cardiologist with Iowa Health. "For approximately one third of patients, coronary artery disease [CAD] or a heart blockage is not diagnosed until after a heart attack occurs. In patients with a moderate-to-high risk for coronary artery disease, an imaging study is essential, along with a stress test. A nuclear scan is the best and preferred test for detecting CAD."

Accreditation by the ICANL means that Iowa Health Cardiology has undergone a thorough review of its operational and technical components by a panel of experts. The ICANL grants accreditation only to those facilities that are found to be providing quality patient care, in compliance with national standards through a comprehensive application process including detailed case study review.

"ICANL accreditation is a 'seal of approval' " said Tamara Sloper, Director, Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, "demonstrating that the facility has been carefully critiqued on all aspects of its operations considered relevant by medical experts in the field of nuclear medicine. ICANL accreditation is widely respected within the medical community."  In addition, many insurance companies require their providers of nuclear medicine services to be accredited.

More information about nuclear cardiology testing is available at the ICANL website: www.icanl.org/icanl/main/patients.htm.