The TCD Test
What is a TCD Test?
The Transcranial Doppler is the most sensitive way to flag a hole in the heart. It is more sensitive than a transoesophageal echocardiogram (TOE) and a trans-thoracic echocardiogram (TTE). A general anaesthetic is not required.
Apart from the ‘drip’ in the arm or leg, it is a painless test that uses ultrasound to detect real time measures of blood flow velocity throughout certain parts of the vascular system in the brain.
The TCD test requires a small amount of saline solution with micro bubbles to be injected into a vein while brain activity is monitored. If any of the micro bubbles have reached the brain, this is an indication that unfiltered blood is circulating through the body. The number of micro bubbles that reach the brain can be accurately counted to determine how significant the abnormality is.
Our Clinic
Dr Lekich – medical director of Hole in the Heart Clinic has accumulated extensive experience in identifying PFOs through the reliability of the TCD test and works closely with structural cardiologists nationally and in New Zealand to facilitate the closures.
Dr Lekich recommends the TCD over other forms of testing, such as echocardiography, as recent studies have proven the TCD to be overwhelmingly more accurate, and has several advantages patients can enjoy such as:
- convenient outpatient test
- Takes approximately 20 minutes
- Affordable & accurate
- Estimates the physiological size of the hole
- Allows easy post op confirmation of closure
Advantages of Using Hole In The Heart Clinic
- Doctor present for testing
- Ultrasound guided insertion of drip
- Increased level of accuracy using leg vein access for the test
- Expedited referral to experts who close these holes as a minimally invasive procedure.
FAQs - Fees and Rebates
How much is the TCD Testing?
The TCD Test costs $750.
Is there a Medicare Rebate?
The test attracts a Medicare rebate of approximately $68 where there is a clinical indication (symptoms) for testing.
Is there a rebate for screenings?
There are no Medicare rebates for screening to eliminate a hole in the heart prior to surgery.
What if the result from my cardiologist is different to the TCD Test?
Should your cardiologist have a different result to our TCD, you will require a CTPA to check there are no vascular abnormalities in the lungs, and to see that there are no bubbles in the left to right shunt that can be missed by the cardiologist who is looking at the heart. The optimum way to confirm is to use a guidewire, which some cardiologists do during a TOE procedure.
