Echocardiograms are noninvasive diagnostic imaging tests that use special sound waves to create detailed images of your heart and the area surrounding it. Unlike an electrocardiogram or EKG that records your heart’s electrical activity, an echocardiogram provides in-depth information about your heart’s structure and function.
TLC Medical Group Inc is a leading provider of echocardiograms using the most advanced technology. In this post, Anthony B. Lewis, MD, FACC, and his team review five heart-related issues that can be both detected and monitored using this state-of-the-art imaging system.
When our heart is healthy, we don’t give much thought to the way it’s pumping. We more or less take this critical activity for granted. But the way your heart pumps — and how well it pumps — plays an essential role in your health and wellness.
Echocardiograms provide an accurate measure of your heart’s pumping ability, known as your ejection fraction (EF). If your EF is lower than normal, it could indicate a weakened heart muscle or even early-stage heart failure. On the other hand, a normal EF means your heart’s pumping action is just fine, even if you’ve had symptoms like lightheadedness or persistent fatigue.
Your heart has four valves that all work in a specific pattern to keep your blood moving the way it’s supposed to inside your heart. When a valve is weak, stiff, or leaky, it can interfere with blood flow, potentially causing serious problems.
Echocardiograms provide a clear picture of how well these valves are working, detecting issues such as regurgitation or narrowing that could pose serious problems. Images also evaluate valve structure, looking for thickening or abnormal movement even before symptoms occur.
Your heart also contains four chambers — two atria and two ventricles. Echo studies also provide a “close-up” view of these chambers and the heart muscle wall, looking for issues such as chamber enlargement or thickening of the heart muscle itself.
These issues can happen as a result of unmanaged hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Echo imaging helps our team understand how hard your heart is working, and it also helps us monitor and track your treatment plan so we can adjust it if needed.
Most of us are familiar with Doppler technology thanks to our local weather station. This technology measures movement and speed of wind and precipitation, helping meteorologists accurately track and predict weather patterns.
Echocardiograms use Doppler technology to track how well blood is moving through your heart, allowing us to identify abnormal patterns or areas where blood is moving too slowly or in the wrong direction.
Echocardiograms are also extremely useful for detecting fluid buildup around your heart, along with blood clots, tumors, and signs of infection that could affect the heart’s muscle tissue or valves. These findings can be critical, especially because symptoms alone may not be enough to determine what’s going on.
Because the imaging test uses real-time imaging, we can quickly spot these problems and determine their underlying causes, so they can be treated immediately. In these cases, echo imaging can be used to treat emergency issues and to provide ongoing care to support cardiac function.
Echocardiograms provide us with detailed, in-depth information that helps us deliver the most advanced, personalized care, supporting accurate diagnoses and targeted treatment for optimal outcomes.
To learn more about echocardiograms and other testing that help us monitor your heart’s health, request an appointment online or over the phone with Dr. Lewis and the team at TLC Medical Group in Port St. Lucie, Florida, today.
