About echocardiogram

About echocardiogram

An echocardiogram is used to check the structure of your heart and how well it's functioning. The procedure uses an ultrasound probe, which is moved over your chest to get a moving picture of your heart.

Echocardiograms can be done on babies, children and adults.

The test can also be carried out when your heart is under stress, for example after you have been exercising. This is called a stress echocardiogram and is used to see how your heart copes with stress.

Reasons for having an echocardiogram include:

• to see how well your heart is pumping (for example, after a heart attack)
• to look for damage to your heart valves
• to check for heart defects in newborn babies and young children
• to look for heart defects in unborn babies (fetal echocardiogram)

What happens during an echocardiogram

The test normally takes around 40 minutes. At the hospital, you will be asked to undress to the waist. The doctor or technician will then ask you to lie on your left-hand side and will rub a clear gel over the left side of your chest. This is to make sure there will be a good, airtight contact between your skin and the probe. As the probe is moved across your chest, ultrasound waves will pass into your body and bounce off the different structures in your heart, and back into the probe. The test shouldn't hurt but it may feel uncomfortable when the probe is being moved over your skin.

The echocardiogram machine creates a moving image of your heart on a screen. If a doctor is doing the test, he or she may be able to tell you straight away how your heart is functioning and whether everything looks normal.

Stress echocardiogram

This is carried out in exactly the same way as a standard echocardiogram, except that your heart will be examined while it's under stress. This is achieved by:

• asking you to take exercise, such as walking on a treadmill, and then doing the echocardiogram afterwards
• injecting increasing amounts of medicine into your vein, which makes your heart work harder while the echocardiogram is carried out

A stress echocardiogram takes about an hour. Your blood pressure and heart will be monitored throughout the test.

Your doctor will discuss with you what will happen before, during and after your procedure, and any pain you might have. This is your opportunity to understand what will happen, and you can help yourself by preparing questions to ask about the risks, benefits and any alternatives to the procedure. This will help you to be informed, so you can give your consent for the procedure to go ahead, which you may be asked to do by signing a consent form.

What are the risks?

Echocardiogram is commonly performed and generally safe. However, in order to make an informed decision and give your consent, you need to be aware of the possible side-effects and the risk of complications.

An echocardiogram is a safe test. There are no known risks associated with having it. Stress echocardiograms that use a drug to increase your heart rate can occasionally cause rhythm problems, headache or chest pains. The staff at the hospital will be fully trained to deal with problems such as this. There is also a small risk of bruising in the area where you have the injection, and a very small chance that you may be allergic to the medicines used during the test.

The exact risks are specific to you and differ for every person, so we haven't included statistics here. Ask your doctor to explain how these risks apply to you.