Educational Information on Echocardiography
Echocardiography (also called echo or echo test) is a heart test that uses sound (ultrasound) waves to create live images of the heart. The test provides vital information about the shape and size of the heart and its functioning. An echocardiography detects abnormalities and heart problems in adults and children and easily identifies areas of the heart that are not functioning properly.
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Who Needs It
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An echocardiography is recommended by a doctor to determine potential problems in the heart. Symptoms of heart problems that warrant an echocardiography include swelling in the legs, shortness of breath or troubled breathing, and fatigue.
What Does It Reveal
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An echocardiography reveals vital information about the size of the heart, weakened heart muscles and other damaged heart vessels of muscles, defect(s) in the valves of the heart, heart murmurs, abnormality in the structure of the heart and tumors or clots. An echocardiography determines how well the heart responds to heart treatments. Echocardiography is an effective tool to monitor changes and improvements in a damaged or defective heart and ascertains the need for further tests.
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Types
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There are various types of echocardiography tests--all of them use sound waves to create images of the heart. They include transthoracic echocardiography, stress echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, Doppler echocardiography, exercise echo, fetal echocardiography and three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography.
Echocardiography Test
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An echocardiography is administered in a cardiologists' office, the cardiology department of a hospital or a private imaging center. Portable ultrasound scanners are used to perform the test, which can be easily transported. A typical echocardiography test takes anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes. The patient is asked to lie bare-chested on an examination table while a sonographer or doctor rubs a gel over his/her chest. This gel allows the transducer (a modified microphone that hears activity by directing ultrasound waves through the chest) to move smoother over the patient's chest. Tissues and blood reflect sound differently. A monitor records the reflected sound and converts it into images. The procedure is painless and the patient feels no discomfort.
Risks
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According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, there are no known risks associated with an echocardiography. A patient does not undergo any special preparations prior to the test. A transesophageal echo requires a patient not to drink or eat for at least eight hours before the test.
Other Names
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An echocardiography is known by other names including ultrasound of the heart (or heart ultrasound), surface echo and echo).
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References
- Photo Credit heart image by cico from Fotolia.com
