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Echocardiography   

Overview | Risks | Results

Alternative names:

Transthoracic echocardiogram; Echocardiogram - transthoracic; Doppler/ultrasound of the heart; Echocardiogram

Definition:

A test that uses sound waves to create a picture of the heart. The picture is more detailed than X-ray image, and there is no radiation exposure.

How the Test is Performed

A trained technician performs the test. A transducer (an instrument that transmits high-frequency sound waves) is placed on your ribs near the sternum and directed toward the heart. The transducer picks up the echoes of the waves and transmits them into an electrical impulse and relays it to an echocardiogram machine where the impulse is displayed and recorded.

If the echocardiogram is unclear due to a barrel chest, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or obesity, your health care provider may choose to perform a transesophageal echocardiogram, or TEE. (With TEE, the back of your throat is anesthetized and a scope is inserted down your throat -- you are requested to swallow it. On the end of the scope is an ultrasonic device that an experienced technician will help introduce down to the inferior part of the esophagus, where it is used to obtain a more clear two dimensional echocardiogram of your heart).

How to Prepare for the Test

There is no special preparation for the test.

How the Test will Feel

Conductive gel is placed on your chest. The transducer is placed directly on your chest. There may be pressure on your chest from the transducer. You may be asked to breathe in a certain way or to inhale a medication to dilate the blood vessels. You must remain still during the test.

Additional echocardiographic techniques include color Doppler (used to measure flow and pressures), and MCE (myocardial contrast echocardiography), in which a special contrast liquid is injected into a vein to visualize the myocardial blood supply.

Why the Test is Performed

Echocardiograms are performed to evaluate the valves and chambers of the heart in a noninvasive manner, to aid the diagnosis of cardiomyopathies, to detect atrial tumors or pericardial effusions (abnormal fluid collection around the heart), or to evaluate cardiac wall motion and function after a heart attack.

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