Echocardiogram

What is an echocardiogram?

Echocardiography is a noninvasive imaging technique. It uses ultrasound technology to assess your heart’s structure, function, and blood flow.

An echocardiogram enables The Heart Institute of Venice’s experienced cardiologists to examine your heart’s walls, chambers, and valves, measure its pumping efficiency, and calculate blood flow rate.

This advanced imaging method provides a comprehensive cardiac health evaluation, supporting an accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment planning.

How does echocardiography work?

The echocardiogram ultrasound technology emits sound waves into your chest through a handheld instrument (transducer). The sound waves bounce back off the heart’s tissues at different rates, returning to the echocardiography machine through the transducer. The computer program then translates the information into moving pictures.

Echocardiograms provide real-time imaging, allowing cardiologists to observe the heart’s function as it beats. This active imaging capability highlights structural heart abnormalities and irregularities in blood flow.

What happens when I have an echocardiogram?

An echocardiogram is painless and doesn’t involve injections, sedatives, or surgical interventions, ensuring a comfortable patient experience.

You lie on a treatment table, and the echocardiography technician applies a slippery, clear gel to your chest. The gel helps the transducer move easily over your skin, creating better sound wave signals. When they have the information they need, the technician wipes off the gel, and you’re free to go.

Sometimes, it’s impossible to get clear enough images using external echocardiography. This could be due to scar tissue in the area, dense muscle, or excess fatty tissue. In these cases, patients might need to undergo a transesophageal echocardiogram, which involves inserting a slender transducer into the chest via the esophagus.

What might an echocardiogram diagnose?

Visualizing your heart in real-time enables The Heart Institute of Venice’s skilled health care professionals to identify various abnormalities, including:

• Heart valve disorders
• Congenital heart defects
• Heart muscle diseases
• Arrhythmias

Echocardiograms are also invaluable for ongoing heart health monitoring. They allow your cardiologist to complete serial exams to track heart structure and function changes over time. These exams offer significant insights into the efficacy of treatment plans and guide your cardiologist when they make any necessary adjustments.

Echocardiography is a safe, efficient imaging technique with no known risks or adverse effects. It’s quick and provides immediate results for you and your health care team to make prompt decisions and timely interventions if necessary.

Call The Heart Institute of Venice to learn more about echocardiograms, or book an appointment online today.