What is Echocardiogram and why do I need it?

Echocardiogram is an ultrasound assessment of your heart. It is a safe diagnostic procedure using sound waves to take moving pictures of your heart. It can assess the size of the heart chambers, the heart muscle function, the heart valves, and major blood vessels associated with the heart.

It provides valuable information about the structure of your heart and any evidence of abnormalities that maybe relevant to your symptoms. It provides a quick glance into the overall conditions of your heart.

How is the procedure performed?

The examination is performed by a highly trained echocardiographer and it may take between 30 min to an hour depending upon how easily the necessary information is obtained. The transducer must be placed directly on the chest wall while you are lying on your side on an examination bed. Female will be offered a gown as you will be undress to the waist.

What is Exercise Stress Echocardiogram and why do I need it?

An Exercise Stress Echocardiogram is an investigation that combines the Echocardiogram and an Exercise Stress ECG test. Most commonly, it is used to assess if your chest pain is due to potential block artery of the heart or not. Sometimes, it is used to assess why you are breathless or to investigate if you have evidence of heart rhythm problem with exercise in addition to making sure your heart structure is normal.

How is the procedure performed?

A gown is provided for females as you need to undress to waist. A baseline echocardiogram is performed first before multiple electrodes are placed over the chest wall to monitor the electrical activity of the heart. You will be asked to exercise on a treadmill while have your symptoms, blood pressure, ECG monitored. A cardiac technician and a medical practitioner will be with you and guide you throughout the test. Immediately after the exercise, you will be transferred back to the examination bed lying on your side to have another echocardiogram to assess your heart function.