Echocardiography

Your cardiologist will recommend an echocardiogram if there are signs or symptoms of heart disease such as:
You may need an echocardiogram if you have:

– heart murmur
– swollen legs
– shortness of breath
– heart murmurs
– unexplained chest pain
– a congenital heart defect
– a history of heart attack
– a history of rheumatic fever.

– Heart size – an enlarged heart may be the result of hypertension, valvular insufficiency or heart failure;
– Myocardial damage as reflected by a decreased ejection fraction, for example following myocardial infarction or in anginal patients;
– Valvular diseases – valve closure or opening defects, endocarditis;
– Congenital diseases – atrial or ventricular septal defect;
– Intracardiac thrombosis or tumors, which by fragmentation can lead to stroke or myocardial infarction;
– Presence of a blood clot.

How to perform an echocardiogram:

Echocardiography is performed by specialized physicians with competence in echocardiography, in the doctor’s office, as follows:
– You will lie on a bed on your left side or back;
– The ultrasound doctor will put a special gel on a probe and move it over the chest area;
– High-frequency sound waves will generate images of the heart and valves;
– The heart’s movements can be seen on a video screen;
– The captured images can be turned into a video recording or a photograph;
– Sometimes you can see the images in real time during the test.

After the investigation, the doctor will help you to clean the gel from your chest and after analyzing the test images will explain the next steps.

9. What are the limitations of musculoskeletal ultrasound?

Ultrasound penetrates the bone with difficulty, being able to visualize only the near edge of the bone. For details related to the bone the patient is referred to X-ray or CT.
In overweight patients ultrasound may not be able to penetrate deep tissue.
Ultrasound cannot detect spinal problems.