Echocardiography

ALTERNATIVE NAMES: 

Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE); Doppler ultrasound of the heart; Echocardiogram surface.

DEFINITION: 

It 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.

HOW DO THE TEST? 

A trained sonographer performs the test, then the doctor interprets the results. An instrument that transmits high frequency sound waves is placed, called a transducer, into the ribs near the breast bone and directed toward the heart. This device picks up the echoes of waves and transmits them as electrical impulses. The echocardiography machine converts these impulses into moving pictures of the heart.
Echocardiography works well for most patients and allows doctors to see the heart beating and to visualize many of the structures of the heart. Occasionally, your lungs, ribs, or body tissue may prevent the sound waves and echoes from providing a clear picture of heart function; if so, the sonographer may inject a small amount of contrast material through an IV to better see inside the heart.
Very rarely, more invasive testing using special echocardiography probes may be necessary.
If the echocardiogram is unclear due to a barrel chest, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease or obesity, your doctor may choose to perform a transesophageal echocardiogram, or TEE. With this procedure, the back of the throat is numbed and a scope is inserted through it. At the tip of the endoscope is one that experienced a technical guide to the lower esophagus, which is the place where you usually get a two-dimensional echocardiogram of the heart clearer ultrasonic device.

PREPARING FOR THE EXAM: 

No one test preparation is needed.

WHAT YOU FEEL DURING THE TEST? 

You are asked to undress from the waist up and lie on your back on an examination table. Then, we placed electrodes on the chest to allow the ECG. A gel is applied to the patient's chest and the transducer is placed on the chest. You will feel light pressure from the transducer. The patient may be asked to breathe in a certain way or to roll to his left side.

WHY DO THE TEST? 

This procedure is performed to evaluate the valves and chambers of the heart in a noninvasive way. Echocardiography allows doctors to evaluate heart murmurs, check the pumping function of the heart and evaluate patients who have had heart attacks. This test is a good screening test for heart disease in certain patient groups.

NORMAL VALUES:
A normal echocardiogram reveals normal heart valves and chambers in the normal state and a normal heart wall movement.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS:
An abnormal echocardiogram can mean many things. Some abnormalities are very small and do not pose significant risks, while others are signs of very serious heart disease that require further evaluation by a specialist. Therefore, it is very important to discuss the results of echocardiography in detail with your doctor.