There are no side effects from the scan, although the lubricating gel may feel cold and you may experience some minor discomfort when the electrodes are removed from your skin at the end of the test. Are there any risks or side effects?Ī standard echocardiogram is a simple, painless and safe procedure. Your doctor will then discuss the results with you during your next appointment. However, the images from the scan will usually need to be analysed before the results are sent to the doctor who requested the test. In some cases, it may be possible for the person carrying out the scan to discuss the results with you soon after it's finished. The type of echocardiogram you will have depends on the heart condition being assessed and how detailed the images need to be.įor example, a stress echocardiogram may be recommended if your heart problem is triggered by physical activity, while the more detailed images produced by a TOE may be more useful in helping plan heart surgery.
damage from a heart attack – where the supply of blood to the heart was suddenly blocked.
When an echocardiogram is usedĪn echocardiogram can help diagnose and monitor certain heart conditions by checking the structure of the heart and surrounding blood vessels, analysing how blood flows through them, and assessing the pumping chambers of the heart. The test will usually be carried out at a hospital or clinic by a cardiologist or a trained specialist called a cardiac physiologist.Īlthough it has a similar name, an echocardiogram isn't the same as an electrocardiogram (ECG), which is a test used to check your heart's rhythm and electrical activity. These echoes are picked up by the probe and turned into a moving image that's displayed on a monitor while the scan is carried out.Īn echocardiogram may be requested by a heart specialist (cardiologist) or any doctor who thinks you might have a problem with your heart, including your GP.
It's a type of ultrasound scan, which means a small probe is used to send out high-frequency sound waves that create echoes when they bounce off different parts of the body. An echocardiogram, or "echo", is a scan used to look at the heart and nearby blood vessels.