Echocardiogram

Reasons for an Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram uses sound waves to assess the heart's function and structures in a noninvasive way. A trained sonographer places a transducer on the chest at certain locations and angles, which sends ultrasonic sound waves through the skin and...

Echocardiogram Procedures

The word echocardiogram sounds technical, but the process is straightforward. An echocardiogram is a medical diagnostic test used to determine heart health. A doctor uses an echocardiogram to further diagnose any irregularities present during a...

Infant Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is a test that examines the internal structures of the heart. It is a painless procedure, which uses a probe that emits sound waves into the chest. These sound waves are high-frequency and bounce off internal structures, giving...

Echocardiogram & Caffeine

An echocardiogram is a medical test that uses sound waves to produce visual images of your heart. Your doctor may order an echocardiogram to see if your heart is beating properly and to identify any abnormalities in heart muscles or valves....

Transesophageal Echocardiogram Complications

An echocardiogram is a graphic outline of the heart's movement, valves and chambers. During the transesophageal echocardiogram, or TEE test, an ultrasound transducer, a device that produces high frequency sound waves, is placed on the end of an...

Reasons for a Stress Echocardiogram

A stress echocardiogram is a test that is used to help detect how well the heart is working. It can also tell a physician if some type of heart disease is causing the symptoms being experienced. It is a non-invasive test that uses ultrasound and...

Exercises for a Stress Echocardiogram

Exercise stress echocardiograms offer clinicians a sample of how your heart works when you are at rest and when your heart is "stressed." Exercise is considered a clinical stressor, as well as pharmacological agents such as dobutamine or...

How to Prepare a Young Child for an Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is a type of imaging technology that enables health-care providers to take pictures of the heart for diagnostic reasons. The echocardiogram utilizes sound waves to produce visual images of how the heart is functioning. Your child...

A Fast Heart Rate During a Stress Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is used to look inside the chest to get a better picture of the structure and function of the heart. This test is often performed as part of a stress test because some heart abnormalities are more distinct when the cardiovascular...

Medications That May Interfere With a Stress Echocardiogram

Stress echocardiography is a diagnostic procedure utilizing echocardiography---an ultrasound test of the heart. This test visualizes the heart muscle at rest and under stress to evaluate for signs of coronary artery disease. A cardiologist then...

Types of Echocardiograms

An echocardiogram is a test in which sound waves are used to create a video of the heart, according to the online medical encyclopedia MedlinePlus. Because sound waves, rather than x-rays, are used to create the images of the heart, the body is...

How Are Echocardiography Images Made?

Echocardiograms are made using ultrasound technology. As Montefiore Medical Center explains, ultrasound uses sound waves at frequencies that are too high to be audible to the human ear. These sound waves are emitted using a small portable device...

About Cardiac Ultrasonography

Cardiac ultrasonography, more commonly known as an echocardiogram, is a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart, according to Medline Plus. Medline Plus states an echocardiogram allows doctors to see the heart beating...

LiveSTRONG Health: About Cardiac Ultrasonography

Cardiac ultrasonography, more commonly referred to as an echocardiogram, is a tool used to create a moving image of the heart through waves of sound, explains the American Heart Association. Sound waves sent into the cardiac region of the chest...

About Echocardiography

Echocardiology uses an echocardiogram, which is a non-invasive procedure that is used to evaluate and diagnose heart conditions. There are different types of echocardiograms. One or more of these may be used, depending on the doctor's diagnosis.

Cardiac Testing Procedures

Cardiac testing procedures are used to determine how the heart is functioning and diagnose any heart conditions. According to the American Heart Association, or AHA, there are both non-invasive and invasive testing procedures. The AHA states that...

What Type of Stress Tests Does a Cardiologist Order?

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recognize cardiovascular stress testing as an invaluable diagnostic tool for the determination of the presence and severity of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, stress...

Types of Cardiac Testing

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with coronary artery disease being the common most type, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Individuals who have a family history or suspect they may have...

Echocardiographic Changes After Long-Term Aerobic Exercise

Long-term aerobic exercise is exactly what your doctor ordered if you asked for advice on how to build up your heart muscle for strength and endurance. An echocardiogram is a sonogram, an ultrasound picture of your heart in action, much like a...

What Are the Different Types of Stress Tests?

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with coronary artery disease being the common most type, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A stress test can show whether a patient does or does not have...

Cardiovascular Fitness Assessment Tools

Cardiovascular fitness refers to the body's ability to efficiently provide the muscles with oxygen and blood. Your cardiovascular system includes your heart and your blood vessels. Your heart is a muscle; however, unlike with skeletal muscles, you...

What Are the Different Types of Sonograms?

A sonogram is an image of the organs inside of the human body. It is also called an ultrasound, and the image is created by a machine that uses high frequency or ultrasonic waves. It does not use radiation. When the machine sends the sound waves,...

Tests for Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a type of heart condition in which your heart is incapable of sending enough blood to your body. According to the Mayo Clinic, physical manifestations of CHF include shortness of breath, especially when you lie...

4 Ways to Recognize Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy is a rare heart condition that is a congenital birth defect. In noncompaction cardiomyopathy, the growth of portions of the heart are arrested during pregnancy. Portions of the heart remain spongy and have mesh like...

4 Ways to Identify Culture-Negative Endocarditis

Culture-negative endocarditis, an infection or inflammation of the lining of the heart, differs from other types of endocarditis in that the organisms that cause the condition cannot grow from a blood sample culture. The signs and symptoms of this...

Types of Cardiac Stress Tests

According to "The Journal of the American Medical Association," heart and blood vessel disease is the leading cause of death in developed nations such as the United States. The purpose of cardiac stress tests is to make the heart work harder by...

Tests for Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart. When they have a buildup of cholesterol in the arterial wall, this is considered coronary heart disease (CHD). It is often referred to as atherosclerosis. CHD can cause significant...

Heart Scan Procedures

Health care providers use heart scan procedures to get detailed views of the condition and functioning of the heart. These procedures help in diagnosis and management of different medical conditions related to the heart, the blood vessels...

How to Compare a Healthy Human Heart to a Bad Heart

Your heart is the engine for your entire body, providing every cell in every tissue with the nutrients they need to live and thrive. However, your heart is susceptible to harm in many forms, especially disease. Some harmful things occur due to...

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