What is an echocardiogram

Written By The HealthMeth Team - Updated On Sunday, February 27, 2022 3:00 PM

Echocardiogram

Examination of Echo or Echo or Echo is a medical examination depends on dedicated to imaging wave myocardial clearly and accurately, and is generally used to diagnose various heart disease, your doctor can from which to see the heart during blood to the body completely pump, and thus can identify the disease accurately, and in this article we will mention some Details about it in general.


Diseases revealed by an echocardiogram

  • Cardiac hypertrophy: This is used to detect the strength of the heart muscle, its inflation, and if there are reasons that impede its work, and it can determine the ability of the heart muscle to pump blood effectively.
  • Examination of the arteries and valves of the heart: It examines whether there is a problem that impedes the work of the valves and arteries, and makes sure that they are not infected with diseases.
  • Heart holes: this examines the abnormal connections that affect the vessels and blood vessels.
  • The power of pumping blood: through it, the percentage of blood pumped by the heart is calculated, and it also reveals whether the blood flow to the heart is sufficient or not.


Types of echocardiography

The doctor chooses the appropriate type of echo for the type of disease, including:

  • Echocardiography with effort: This examination depicts the heart muscle, especially when practicing strenuous exercise. There are many diseases that appear when exercising, and perhaps the most important of them is arterial diseases.
  • Transesophageal Echocardiography: It is considered one of the best types of examination, as it visualizes the heart very accurately by inserting a small tube into the esophagus. To screen for dangerous cardiac diseases.
  • Doppler ultrasound: It detects diseases related to the bloodstream and how it is compressed in the arteries that supply the heart.
  • Examination of sound waves through the chest cage: It is one of the well-known and simple types of examinations, through which the devices are placed on the chest of the individual, then the heart movements are examined through the screen of the device, and it is usually used to examine the heart, and if there is a problem preventing blood from reaching the lung or the ribs.


Advantages of an echocardiogram

  • It is considered one of the accurate tests that screen for various heart diseases.
  • It gives accurate results, thus simplifying the examination process.
  • Identify abnormal sounds from the heart.
  • Analysis of the factors that lead to heart failure.
  • Ensure that the heart does not suffer from some diseases such as thrombosis, insufficiency, and heart attacks.
  • Checking the percentage of fluid accumulated around the heart.
  • Check the thickness of the membrane that surrounds the heart.


Disadvantages of an echocardiogram

The echocardiogram may cause some risks to the patient, including:

  • An injury to the throat wall, and this case is considered a rare case.
  • arrhythmia.
  • Having a heart attack.