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An Echocardiogram uses sound waves to create moving pictures of the heart so doctors can see how it is functioning.

Electrocardiogram

An Echocardiogram is a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. The picture is much more detailed than x-ray image and involves no radiation exposure. It is similar to the well-known ultrasound technology used to examine unborn babies, but is instead used to examine the heart.

An echocardiogram allows doctors to evaluate heart murmurs, check the pumping function of the heart, and evaluate patients who have had heart attacks. It is a very good screening test for heart disease in certain groups of patients.

What can I expect during an echocardiogram?

An echocardiogram is a painless, simple procedure. There are no known risks associated with this test. You will be asked to disrobe from the waist up and will lie on an examination table on your back. Electrodes will be placed on your chest. These electrodes are used to record an electrocardiogram during the echocardiography, which helps in the timing of various cardiac events (filling and emptying of chambers). A gel will be spread on your chest and then a small wand called a transducer will be placed near the breast bone. The transducer is used to direct waves of sound toward the heart.

You will feel a slight pressure on your chest from the transducer. You may be asked to move to your back and/or side. The nurse or technician may ask you to breathe slowly or to hold your breath, which results in higher quality pictures. The technician then makes recordings from different parts of the chest to obtain several views of the heart.

Occasionally, because your lungs, ribs, or body tissue prevents the sound waves and echoes from providing a clear picture of heart function, the the technician injects a small amount of a dye to better see the inside of the heart.

A typical electrocardiogram is performed in about 30 minutes, though complicating factors such as patients with lung disease, obesity, restlessness, and significant shortness of breath may result in a longer test.

The echocardiogram will be recorded so that the doctor can review it later.

What an echocardiogram reveals

A normal echocardiogram reveals normal heart valves and chambers and normal heart wall movement. An abnormal echocardiogram can mean many things. Some abnormalities are very minor and do not pose significant risks. Other abnormalities are signs of very serious heart disease that will require further evaluation by a specialist. Therefore, it is very important to discuss the results of your echocardiogram in depth with your health care provider.

Enlarged heart

An echocardiogram can determine if the walls of the heart are too thick. This can help diagnose heart disease affecting the heart muscle. When the heart muscle is too thick, it can reduce the effectiveness of the heart pumping.

Weakness heart

Echocardiograms can also identify if the heart is pumping poorly due to weakness in the heart muscle, possibly due to a prior heart attack.

Valve Function

Echocardiograms can also be used to observe the heart valves to determine if a valve is operating normally, scarred from an infection or rheumatic fever, thickened, calcified, torn, etc. It can also assess the function of prosthetic or artificial heart valves.

Low blood volume

Low blood pressure can occur due to poor heart function, but it also results when patient's have a reduced volume of circulating blood because of dehydration, blood loss, the use of diuretics or other conditions. Most of the time, this condition is fairly obvious to doctors, but when patients have a combination of problems it can be obscured. An echocardiogram can reveal this problem.

Other Uses

Echocardiograms are useful in diagnosing fluid in the chamber that surrounds the heart, congenital heart diseases, blood clots or tumors within the heart, active infections of the heart valves, abnormally high pressure in the lungs, and other conditions.