Who-Should Have An Echocardiography

An Echocardiography is actually the Ultrasound of Heart, this ultrasound produces sound waves and one can have moving picture of heart. This procedure does not involve any radiations and it gives more detail than X-ray. It is a good diagnostic tool for Valvular heart diseases, evaluating pumping function of heart, i.e ejection fraction, in heart attack patients. It is also a good screening test for certain heart disease. However, there are some situations or diseases that one should have an echocardiography test.

These are the situations in which an echo may influence the clinical management of a patient.

1. Assessment of valve function, e.g systolic or diastolic murmurs
2. Assessment of left ventricular function, systolic diastolic and regional wall motions, e.g suspected heart failure in a patient with breathlessness, or preoperative assessment.
3. Suspected Endocarditis
4. Suspected Myocarditis
5. Cardiac Temponade
6. Pericardial Disease (e.g Pericarditis) or pericardial effusion, especially if clinical evidence of temponade
7. Complications of myocardial Infarction, eg MR VSD or pericardial effusion.
8. Suspicion of intracardiac masses- tumour or thrombus
9. Cardiac chamber size e.g Left atrial size in atrial fibrillation (AF), Cardiomegaly in chest X-ray.
10. Assessment of artificial valve function.
11. Arrhythmias, e.g Atrial fibrillation, ventricular techycardia (VT)
12. Assessment of right ventricle and right heart
13. Estimation of intracardiac and vascular pressures, e.g pulmonary artery systolic pressures in lung disease and suspected pulmonary hypertension
14. To find out cardiac source of embolism in stroke and transient ischaemic attack patients.
15. Exclusion of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertention
16. Assessment of congenital heart diseases.

These abnormalities are just few and most common that an echo can reveal. For details you may contact your doctor.

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