Echocardiogram (ECG) 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.
This test is performed to evaluate the valves and chambers of the heart in a noninvasive manner. The test causes no pain, and a person may eat or drink before it begins and it is entirely safe.
A sonographer performs the test, then physician interprets the results. An instrument that transmits high-frequency sound waves called a transducer is placed on ribs near the breast bone and directed toward the heart. The transducer picks up the echoes of the sound waves and transmits them as electrical impulses. The echocardiography machine converts these impulses into moving pictures of the heart.
An Echocardiogram test provide information about many aspects of heart health:
1. The echocardiogram reveals important information about the anatomy of the heart.
2. It is especially useful for detecting problems with the heart valves (such as aortic stenosis or mitral valve prolapse).
3. It is also an extremely useful test for evaluating congenital heart disease.
4. It is also a good way to get a general idea of the overall function of the heart muscle.
5. It allows doctors to check the pumping function of the heart, and evaluate patients who have had heart attacks.
Echocardiogram works well for most patients and allows doctors to see the heart beating and to visualize many of the structures of the heart.
