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What is echocardiography? What are the different types of echocardiography? What problems can echocardiography diagnose? How is an echocardiogram performed? What is echocardiography? Echocardiography is a procedure used to assess the heart's structures and function. Echocardiography is also called echo, cardiac ultrasound or ultrasonography, cardiac Doppler, transthoracic echocardiography, or TTE. A small probe called a transducer is placed on your child's chest and sends out ultrasonic sound waves at a frequency too high to be heard. When the transducer is placed on your child's chest in certain locations and at certain angles, the ultrasonic sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the heart tissues, where the waves bounce (or "echo") off of the heart structures. The transducer picks up the reflected waves and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the echoes into an image of the heart walls and valves. What are the different types of echocardiography? An echocardiogram can utilize one, or more, of four special types of echocardiography, as listed below: * M-Mode echocardiography This is the simplest type of echocardiography, and produces an image that is similar to a tracing rather than an actual picture of heart structures. M-mode echo is useful for measuring heart structures, such as the heart's pumping chambers, the size of the heart itself, and the thickness of the heart's walls. * Doppler echocardiography This Doppler technique is used to measure and assess the flow of blood through the heart's chambers and valves. The amount of blood pumped out with each beat is an indication of the heart's functioning. Also, Doppler can detect abnormal blood flow within the heart, which can indicate such problems as an opening between chambers of the heart, a problem with one or more of the heart's four valves, or a problem with the heart's walls. * color Doppler Color Doppler is an enhanced form of Doppler echocardiography. With color Doppler, different colors are used to designate the direction of blood flow. This simplifies the interpretation of the Doppler images. * 2-D (2-dimensional) echocardiography This technique is used to "see" the actual structures and motion of the heart structures. A 2-D echo view appears cone-shaped on the monitor, and the real-time motion of the heart's structures can be observed. This enables the physician to see the various heart structures at work and evaluate them. What problems can echocardiography diagnose? Several diseases of the heart may be detected by echocardiography, including the following: * aneurysm - a dilation of a part of the coronary arteries or the aorta (the large artery which carries oxygenated blood out of the heart to the rest of the body) which may cause a weakness of the tissue at the site of the aneurysm. In extreme cases, the aneurysm may rupture, which is an emergency situation, causing rapid blood loss out of the blood vessels. * cardiomyopathy - an enlargement of the heart due to thickening or weakening of the heart muscle. * congenital (present at birth) defects - abnormalities or deficiencies in one or more heart structures that occur during formation of the fetus. * congestive heart failure - a condition in which the heart muscle has become weakened to an extent that blood cannot be pumped efficiently; thus, causing a build up (congestion) in the blood vessels, lungs, feet, ankles, and other parts of the body. * pericarditis - an inflammation of the membrane (thin covering) that surrounds the heart. * valve disease - one or more of the heart's four valves becomes defective, or may be congenitally (since birth) malformed. How is an echocardiogram performed? |