What is Echocardiogram?

The echocardiogram is a device used in the medical field that sends out ultrasound waves at the cardiac cavity and the heart itself, it then gathers the reflected sound waves and translates it into live visual representations of the heart. It can also be termed as cardiac echo, which is a diagnostic test that visualizes the heart using ultrasound waves. Its meaning can actually be deduced from its name, echo means the reflection of sound, cardio pertains to the heart muscles, and gram is a term used to signify measurement or visualization, thus the term echocardiogram. An echocardiogram test can display images of your cardiac muscle in different ways like one dimensional and 2 dimensional slices of the heart, and as the device’s model becomes more advanced, more options are made available like the three dimensional real time visualization. The single dimension imaging or M-mode of the machine is used for obtaining the precise dimensions of the different heart valves and chambers, while the two dimensional visualization available in more advance models allows the viewing of images that depict cross sections of pounding cardiac muscles including its valves, chambers, and vessels.

Echocardiogram procedure

When undergoing an echocardiogram, you have to understand that this test can only be performed accurately by trained professionals such as physicians with cardiology specialization or training, specialized cardiac sonographers, and cardiac physiologists. There is no special preparation required when going for this test, you will be asked to lie down on the examination table and remove the clothing for your upper body, a hospital gown may also be provided. Wires with electrodes will then be attached to certain points of your chest up to the armpits. The electrodes are usually attached to your skin via suction. After that, a clear gel will then be slathered unto your skin to allow better sound conduction of the transducer, this is the component of the echocardiogram machine that transmits ultrasound waves and captures the resultant echoes to be transmitted to the main body of the echocardiogram, you may feel a slight pressure from the transducer as the cardiac sonographer needs to apply some pressure for better visualization. Certain instructions may be given to you as the test progresses, such as rolling over to a side-lying position and changing your breathing patterns. All the things being visualized are automatically being recorded on paper and video by the machine to be reviewed later by your attending physician.

Echocardiogram Test (Ecg test)

There are a number of different types of echocardiogram but one thing that remains constant with all of them in the need to use of a transducer and sound waves that are reflected off the cardiac muscles’ different parts and transmitted to the echocardiogram to be interpreted and turned into a visual representation on the echocardiogram’s monitor.

Trans-esophageal echocardiogram

As the term implies, this type of echocardiogram entails the passage of a transducer attached to a flexible and controlled wire or thin tube through the esophagus for a more detailed and closer look of the heart through a different angle. This type of echocardiogram is used to visualize the more posterior areas of the heart when using the trans-thoracic approach.

Stress echocardiogram

The stress echocardiogram is applied as an integral component of a stress test because some heart problems only surface when the subject is subjected to strenuous exercises that make the beat faster and work harder. This test is done by the cardiac sonographer by taking a quick snap of your heart functions during the resting phase and then applying drugs that have excitatory effects on the heart muscles or making you do exercises on a treadmill or other exercise machines, once your heart achieves a more “stressed” state, another round of visualization is done to look for any abnormalities.

Trans-thoracic echocardiogram

This is the most widely used type of echocardiogram and what was described in the earlier part of this article. It is non invasive and involves visualization of the cardiac muscle through the chest or thorax, where a type of sound conductive clear gel is placed on the area and a transducer is used to send off and catch reflected sound waves.

Intravascular echocardiogram

this is one of the more invasive types if echocardiography because it involves the introduction of a thin transducer wire into the body through an area in the groin and following the blood vessel to the greater vessels in the heart. This is primary for visualizing and checking the patency of the different blood vessels bringing blood to and from the heart.

Fetal echocardiogram

Like a variant of the trans-thoracic echocardiogram, this time placing the gel and transducer over a pregnant woman’s womb. This is used to evaluate the heart function of an unborn child and look for any abnormalities. This is usually done during the 18^th to the 22^nd week of pregnancy.

Dobutamine echocardiogram

This is a sub variant of the stress echocardiogram where the drug Dobutamine or adenosine is administered to the subject to increase the heart’s workload just like when undergoing exercise. This is applicable to patients in a very volatile state that disallows them to do any physical exertion because the risk for a heart attack or other dangerous situations is high.

Echocardiogram vs. EKG

Echocardiogram and EKG are both very important diagnostic tools in determining heart function. The EKG or electrocardiogram differs from echocardiogram because instead of sound, it uses electrical impulses generated by the beating heart through different electrodes attached to specific pulse points on the limbs and chest. The electrical impulses are then transmitted to the EKG and it translates them into a visual graph that is printed on long strips of paper for the doctors to read. The varying wave amplitudes and intervals in the printed result contains valuable information as to the heart’s function

How to read an Echocardiogram

Reading an echocardiogram entails a deep understanding of the inner workings of the heart, from the molecular level to the electrical impulses generated by the heart muscles. Cardiac physicians and cardiac sonographers undergo months of training and years of actual experience to accurately read the results of this complex test and the contents of their training cannot be summarized in the few words that this article allows. Reading an echocardiogram is an art in itself and requires an immense amount of knowledge and experience.

Here is a link where you can get complete information on how to read an echocardiogram  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2215/

References:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003869.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echocardiography

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/echo/echo_types.html

No related posts.

by Dr John on 15. May, 2011 in Heart Problems