Echocardiogram (Echo)

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An echocardiogram (echo) uses high frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to make pictures of your heart. The test is also called echocardiography or diagnostic cardiac ultrasound.

The types of echocardiograms are:

• Transthoracic echocardiography
• Stress echocardiography

An echo test can allow your health care team to look at your heart’s structure and check how well your heart functions. This including

• The size and shape of your heart, and the size, thickness and movement of your heart’s walls.
• How your heart moves during heartbeats.
• The heart’s pumping strength.
• If the heart valve are working correctly.
• If blood is leaking backwards through your heart valves (regurgitation)
• If the heart valves are too narrow (stenosis).
• If a tumor or infectious growth is around your heart valves.

 An echo doesn’t hurt and has no side effects. 

 At Smart Cardiac Diagnostics Solutions we use the most up-to-date Ultrasound systems on the market. This helps us to ensure that our patients receive the highest quality images. 

• An echo uses sound waves to create pictures of your heart’s chambers, valves, walls and the blood vessels (aorta, arteries, veins) attached to your heart.
• A probe called a transducer is passed over your chest. The probe produces sound waves that bounce off your heart and “echo” back to the probe. These waves are changed into pictures viewed on a video monitor.
• An echo can’t harm you.