Echo Cardiography

An echocardiogram, also referred to as an “ECHO” is a painless type of ultrasound test that creates moving real-time pictures of the heart. The ultrasound technique uses high-pitched sound waves that are emitted through a device called a transducer or probe. The device then records the echoes of the sound waves as they bounce off the different parts of your heart. These echoes are used to create diagnostic images that are displayed on a video screen and later recorded onto a tape, disk, or film.

The most common type of echocardiogram is known as a Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). Views of the heart are obtained by moving the transducer to different locations on your chest or abdominal wall.

A Doppler echocardiogram is also commonly performed during the transthoracic echo to look at how blood flows through the heart chambers and heart valves. The movement of the blood toward or away from the probe will cause the sound waves to reflect back to a transducer. The ultrasound computer then measures the direction and speed of the blood flowing through your heart chambers and valves. Doppler measurements are usually displayed on the video monitor in a variety of different colors.

Echocardiograms may be ordered by your doctor in order to look for the cause of an abnormal heart sounds (murmurs or clicks), an enlarged heart, unexplained chest pains, shortness of breath, or irregular heartbeats.

It may also be recommended to check and measure the thickness and movement of the heart’s walls, the opening and closing of the heart valves, measuring the size and shape of the heart’s chambers, and how well an artificial heart valve is working.

The echocardiogram is able to check the ability of your heart chambers to pump blood (cardiac performance) and can calculate how much blood your heart is pumping during each heartbeat. This is known as the ejection fraction with a normal range of 55-60%. A low ejection fraction may indicate heart failure. A disease that affects the heart muscle and the way it pumps is known as a cardiomyopathy and the echo can help determine the cause.

An echo is also useful in detecting blood clots or tumors within the heart, function of the heart following a heart attack, congenital heart defects, check the effectiveness of previous surgery to repair a congenital heart defect.

A pericardial effusion which is a fluid collection around the heart can also be detected by an echocardiogram as well as measuring the thickness of the lining (pericardium) around the heart.

The Doppler portion of the examination will evaluate the speed of blood flow through the heart valves and can help determine malfunctioning valves as well as leakage that occurs when the value prolapses.

A prolapse of a heart value occurs when the tips of the valves fail to form a complete closure flopping backwards and causing blood to leak back into the chamber in which the blood came from. This is referred to regurgitation of the blood and your doctor may describe the sound that this makes as a murmur when he listens to your heart with a stethoscope.

Please click on the BROCHURES page, under Echocardiography, to see a more thorough description of the test.