Echocardiography: A Practical Guide to Heart Imaging

Breathlessness on the stairs, ankle swelling, chest discomfort, or a heart murmur may lead a doctor to request an echocardiogram. The test is usually performed from outside the body and uses sound waves rather than radiation.

A sonographer moves a handheld probe over the chest to create moving pictures of the heart.

Those images can show the size of the chambers, the movement of the heart muscle, the appearance of the valves, and the direction and speed of blood flow. Reading about echocardiography beforehand can make the appointment feel more familiar.

echocardiography

cardiac imaging appointment