What is echo test

An echo test, or echocardiogram, is a common ultrasound test that evaluates a patient’s heart. When you schedule this test, it’s your job to ensure that your patients are as safe and comfortable as possible before, during, and after the procedure. This means answering any questions they might have, giving them any preparatory instructions, guiding them through the entire process, and providing a Explain the Procedure As with all procedures, the first step in preparing your patient for an echo test is to explain the process. Spend time with your patient explaining what an echocardiogram is, how it works, and why you’re doing it. Be both friendly and informative when answering any questions your patient might have. Remember that while this procedure is routine for you, it’s a new and possibly frightening experience for your patient. Help assuage their fears by providing them with the information they need to feel comfortable with the upcoming procedure. Preparing Your Patient for an Echo Test There are a few different types of echocardiogram tests, all of which require different preparations. Make sure your patient knows what to do to get ready for their exam. The most common echo test is the transthoracic echocardiogram. This is a standard, noninvasive procedure that doesn’t require any special preparation. The patient can eat, drink, and take their medication as usual on the day leading up to the exam. If the standard transthoracic echocardiogram doesn’t yield a clear or d...

What is “ejection fraction”? Ejection fraction (EF) is a measurement, expressed as a percentage, of how much blood the left ventricle pumps out with each contraction. An ejection fraction of 60 percent means that 60 percent of the total amount of blood in the left ventricle is pushed out with each heartbeat.A normal heart’s ejection fraction is between 55 and 70 percent. This indication of how well your heart is pumping out blood can help to diagnose and track It is important to note, however, that you can have a normal ejection fraction measurement and still have heart failure. This is called HFpEF or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. It happens when your heart’s muscle has become so thick and stiff that the ventricle holds a smaller than usual volume of blood. In this case, your heart might still have an ejection fraction that falls in the normal range because your heart is pumping out a normal percentage of the blood that enters it. However in HFpEF, the total amount of blood pumped isn’t enough to meet your body’s needs. What’s an unhealthy EF? An EF from 41 to 49 percent might be considered too low. It does not always indicate that a person is developing heart failure, but it could indicate damage, perhaps from a previous heart attack. An ejection fraction measurement under 40 percent might be evidence of heart failure or Learn ways to improve your An ejection fraction measurement higher than 75 percent could indicate a heart condition such as Download H...

Ask the doctor Q. To my surprise, I recently had a minor stroke. I have fully recovered. My doctor now wants to do a "bubble study." What is this test, and why it is done? A. A bubble study, which is done during an echocardio­gram (heart ultrasound), can provide added information about blood flow through your heart. Doctors often do bubble studies on people who experience an unexpected stroke — that is, those who have no obvious stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure or atrial fibrillation. The results can provide clues about a possible cause and may affect the treatment you receive. During the test, a technician injects a solution into a vein in your arm. The fluid contains tiny bubbles of air, which then circulate through your bloodstream to the right side of your heart. You'll be asked to cough or bear down, which briefly increases the pressure in the heart's right side. On the ultrasound image, the bubbles can be seen traveling into the heart's upper chamber (atrium), then down to the lower chamber (ventricle), and then out through the pulmonary artery into the lungs, where they are filtered out of the blood. But in some people, bubbles are seen traveling through a tiny, flaplike tunnel between the right and left atria. This opening is present in all babies as a normal part of development and usually closes up within a few weeks of birth. But in about 25% of people, the hole fails to fully close and is known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO). For the most part,...

Caiaimage / Sam Edwards / Getty Images How a Bubble Study Is Done A bubble study takes advantage of the fact that when sound waves encounter different types of physical media — in this case, gas vs. liquid — they bounce around more, and create more “echo waves.” These echo waves show up on an echocardiogram as increased density. In a typical bubble study, a saline solution is shaken vigorously to produce tiny bubbles and is then injected into a vein. As the bubbles travel through the vein and into the right side of the heart, the increased density they produce on the echocardiography image allows the physician to actually watch the bubbles move through the cardiac chambers. An intracardiac shunt can be produced, for instance, by a PFO, an Currently, commercial forms of “bubbles” are available to be used during bubble studies. These new agents usually are comprised of tiny protein or phospholipid casings which enclose a gas. These new agents appear to be safe in most cases and may provide better echo imaging. However, they are substantially more expensive than a shaken saline solution. The main reason healthcare providers worry about PFOs is the possibility that they might allow blood clots to cross into the left side of the heart, where they might enter the circulation of the brain and produce an embolic stroke. Fortunately, while PFOs are quite common (occurring in up to 25% of adults), they lead to stroke only rarely. So, while a positive bubble study might confirm the p...

Echocardiography (also known as echocardiogram) is a non-invasive ultrasound procedure used to assess the heart's function and structures. UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute's cardiologists are expert at using this diagnostic tool to identify heart conditions and appropriate treatment plans. What is echocardiography? During an echocardiogram, a transducer (similar to a microphone) is placed on the chest at certain locations and angles. The ultrasonic sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the heart tissues, bouncing or "echoing" off of the heart structures. These sound waves are sent to a computer that can create moving images of the heart walls and valves. What are the different types of echocardiograms? An echocardiogram may utilize several special types of echocardiography: • M-mode Echocardiography. This produces an image that is similar to a tracing rather than an actual picture of heart structures. • Doppler Echocardiography. Measures and assesses the flow of blood through the heart's chambers and valves. • Color Doppler. An enhanced form of Doppler echocardiography in which different colors are used to designate the direction of blood flow. • 2-D (two-dimensional) Echocardiography. Used to "see" the actual motion of the heart structures in real-time so that the heart's structures can be observed. • 3-D (three-dimensional) echocardiography. Captures three-dimensional views of the heart structures with greater depth than 2-D echo. What is the purpo...

An echo test, or echocardiogram, is a common ultrasound test that evaluates a patient’s heart. When you schedule this test, it’s your job to ensure that your patients are as safe and comfortable as possible before, during, and after the procedure. This means answering any questions they might have, giving them any preparatory instructions, guiding them through the entire process, and providing a Explain the Procedure As with all procedures, the first step in preparing your patient for an echo test is to explain the process. Spend time with your patient explaining what an echocardiogram is, how it works, and why you’re doing it. Be both friendly and informative when answering any questions your patient might have. Remember that while this procedure is routine for you, it’s a new and possibly frightening experience for your patient. Help assuage their fears by providing them with the information they need to feel comfortable with the upcoming procedure. Preparing Your Patient for an Echo Test There are a few different types of echocardiogram tests, all of which require different preparations. Make sure your patient knows what to do to get ready for their exam. The most common echo test is the transthoracic echocardiogram. This is a standard, noninvasive procedure that doesn’t require any special preparation. The patient can eat, drink, and take their medication as usual on the day leading up to the exam. If the standard transthoracic echocardiogram doesn’t yield a clear or d...

Echocardiography (also known as echocardiogram) is a non-invasive ultrasound procedure used to assess the heart's function and structures. UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute's cardiologists are expert at using this diagnostic tool to identify heart conditions and appropriate treatment plans. What is echocardiography? During an echocardiogram, a transducer (similar to a microphone) is placed on the chest at certain locations and angles. The ultrasonic sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the heart tissues, bouncing or "echoing" off of the heart structures. These sound waves are sent to a computer that can create moving images of the heart walls and valves. What are the different types of echocardiograms? An echocardiogram may utilize several special types of echocardiography: • M-mode Echocardiography. This produces an image that is similar to a tracing rather than an actual picture of heart structures. • Doppler Echocardiography. Measures and assesses the flow of blood through the heart's chambers and valves. • Color Doppler. An enhanced form of Doppler echocardiography in which different colors are used to designate the direction of blood flow. • 2-D (two-dimensional) Echocardiography. Used to "see" the actual motion of the heart structures in real-time so that the heart's structures can be observed. • 3-D (three-dimensional) echocardiography. Captures three-dimensional views of the heart structures with greater depth than 2-D echo. What is the purpo...

What is “ejection fraction”? Ejection fraction (EF) is a measurement, expressed as a percentage, of how much blood the left ventricle pumps out with each contraction. An ejection fraction of 60 percent means that 60 percent of the total amount of blood in the left ventricle is pushed out with each heartbeat.A normal heart’s ejection fraction is between 55 and 70 percent. This indication of how well your heart is pumping out blood can help to diagnose and track It is important to note, however, that you can have a normal ejection fraction measurement and still have heart failure. This is called HFpEF or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. It happens when your heart’s muscle has become so thick and stiff that the ventricle holds a smaller than usual volume of blood. In this case, your heart might still have an ejection fraction that falls in the normal range because your heart is pumping out a normal percentage of the blood that enters it. However in HFpEF, the total amount of blood pumped isn’t enough to meet your body’s needs. What’s an unhealthy EF? An EF from 41 to 49 percent might be considered too low. It does not always indicate that a person is developing heart failure, but it could indicate damage, perhaps from a previous heart attack. An ejection fraction measurement under 40 percent might be evidence of heart failure or Learn ways to improve your An ejection fraction measurement higher than 75 percent could indicate a heart condition such as Download H...

Ask the doctor Q. To my surprise, I recently had a minor stroke. I have fully recovered. My doctor now wants to do a "bubble study." What is this test, and why it is done? A. A bubble study, which is done during an echocardio­gram (heart ultrasound), can provide added information about blood flow through your heart. Doctors often do bubble studies on people who experience an unexpected stroke — that is, those who have no obvious stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure or atrial fibrillation. The results can provide clues about a possible cause and may affect the treatment you receive. During the test, a technician injects a solution into a vein in your arm. The fluid contains tiny bubbles of air, which then circulate through your bloodstream to the right side of your heart. You'll be asked to cough or bear down, which briefly increases the pressure in the heart's right side. On the ultrasound image, the bubbles can be seen traveling into the heart's upper chamber (atrium), then down to the lower chamber (ventricle), and then out through the pulmonary artery into the lungs, where they are filtered out of the blood. But in some people, bubbles are seen traveling through a tiny, flaplike tunnel between the right and left atria. This opening is present in all babies as a normal part of development and usually closes up within a few weeks of birth. But in about 25% of people, the hole fails to fully close and is known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO). For the most part,...

Caiaimage / Sam Edwards / Getty Images How a Bubble Study Is Done A bubble study takes advantage of the fact that when sound waves encounter different types of physical media — in this case, gas vs. liquid — they bounce around more, and create more “echo waves.” These echo waves show up on an echocardiogram as increased density. In a typical bubble study, a saline solution is shaken vigorously to produce tiny bubbles and is then injected into a vein. As the bubbles travel through the vein and into the right side of the heart, the increased density they produce on the echocardiography image allows the physician to actually watch the bubbles move through the cardiac chambers. An intracardiac shunt can be produced, for instance, by a PFO, an Currently, commercial forms of “bubbles” are available to be used during bubble studies. These new agents usually are comprised of tiny protein or phospholipid casings which enclose a gas. These new agents appear to be safe in most cases and may provide better echo imaging. However, they are substantially more expensive than a shaken saline solution. The main reason healthcare providers worry about PFOs is the possibility that they might allow blood clots to cross into the left side of the heart, where they might enter the circulation of the brain and produce an embolic stroke. Fortunately, while PFOs are quite common (occurring in up to 25% of adults), they lead to stroke only rarely. So, while a positive bubble study might confirm the p...