Echocardiography is one of the most important diagnostic procedures for the heart. It is often also referred to as ultrasound cardiography or heart echo. Alongside the electrocardiogram, this procedure has already become an indispensable part of diagnostics. In addition, general practitioners and internists also appreciate the many possibilities of this examination method.
Below you will find further information and selected echocardiography specialists.
Echocardiography is a non-invasive ultrasound examination of the heart. This means that no surgical intervention is necessary to examine the heart. The doctor simply holds a small ultrasound probe to the outside of the chest.
If more precise measurements are required, the doctor guides the probe through the esophagus next to the heart. To do this, he uses a special endoscope, to the tip of which the device is attached. This procedure is known as swallowing echo.
Within a very short time, this procedure has become one of the most popular and effective examination methods.
In practice, several echocardiography procedures have been established to examine the health of the heart.
Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE ) is the most common method. The doctor places the ultrasound probe on the anterior chest wall from the outside. The procedure is particularly impressive due to its simplicity and low cost.
This method already provides the doctor with a great deal of information about the patient's condition. In particular, it provides important data regarding
In this way, the doctor is able to assess the performance and health of the heart.
Echocardiography can also be used to produce a three-dimensional image of the heart . For this purpose, the doctor uses a special probe that collects enough data to produce a three-dimensional image of the organ. Doctors use this procedure primarily for acute heart failure.
There is also the so-called color Doppler and Doppler echocardiography. Both methods are used to visualize the blood flow. Doppler echocardiography impressively visualizes the entire blood circulation in the body. With color Doppler echocardiography, doctors also determine the direction of the blood flow. This is illustrated using different colors.
The use of sound waves of a certain frequency also allows conclusions to be drawn about the flow velocity of the blood. In this way, specialists can detect both a valve defect and a hole in the cardiac septum at an early stage.
Cardiac echocardiography is a simple and inexpensive method for an initial check of the heart for disorders © Семен Саливанчук | AdobeStock
Finally, stress echocardiography is also performed in many cases. This is a cardiac echo that is taken during a state of stress. This produces what is known as a stress echo. It describes the heart's performance during high physical exertion and thus allows conclusions to be drawn about impaired blood flow.
The stress state is often induced either by physical exertion on a bicycle ergometer or by administering special medication.
In some cases, the doctor also injects a contrast agent into the arm vein in order to better visualize the blood flow on the images obtained.
Patients do not need to do anything before a conventional examination. During the echocardiography, the patient's upper body is undressed. The upper body is usually raised slightly and placed in a lateral position. This produces images of particularly high quality.
The attending physician then applies a contact gel to the upper body. The probe is then carefully guided over the entire chest with gentle pressure.
The lateral position enables particularly high-quality echocardiography images © familylifestyle | AdobeStock
The device sends ultrasound waves into the body. The different tissues within the body reflect the sound waves in different ways. The ultrasound probe receives the reflections and creates a visual image from the collected data. It displays the images directly on a monitor so that they can be analyzed immediately.
With swallowing echo, a long tube is inserted into the patient's mouth instead. It passes through the oesophagus until it reaches the level of the heart.
To avoid injury, patients must actively swallow several times during the examination. As there is often a strong gag reflex, sedatives are often given after a few attempts. In this case, however, the patient must not drive a car, motorcycle or bicycle for the entire day.
The patient must not eat any solid or liquid food for at least four hours before the swallowing echo examination.
The ultrasound examination of the heart provides a lot of information that facilitates the diagnosis of numerous heart diseases. This includes, among other things
In addition to these main areas of application, the cardiac echo is also used for coronary heart disease. It reveals all damaged areas of the heart. For this reason, this procedure is also performed as standard after a severe heart attack. In some cases, doctors also order an echocardiogram after an abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG).
However, this procedure has clear limitations. For example, it cannot be used to examine the coronary arteries. A cardiac catheter examination is always necessary for this.
The images produced by the cardiac echo only provide initial indications of faulty blood flow in the coronary arteries.
In the following video you can see a beating heart in the cardiac echo.
A classic echocardiography on the outside of the chest does not involve any risks. Ultrasound waves do not cause any radiation exposure.
Furthermore, the examination is usually painless. Only frail and elderly people notice an emerging shortness of breath in the lateral position. For this reason, some doctors also perform the examination in the supine position. However, this significantly reduces the image quality.
The swallowing echo, on the other hand, is often associated with gag reflexes and leads to a massive flow of saliva. Injury to the oesophagus only occurs occasionally. After the injection of a contrast medium, however, the following usually occur
In some cases, hearing and vision problems also occur. Allergic reactions and other side effects may also occur.
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