If your doctor suspects you may have a heart or artery issue or if you've recently had heart surgery, there's an effective way to see the structures of your heart without the need for invasive surgery. With an echocardiogram, the experienced cardiologists at Heart One Associates can view your heart without invasive procedures. Take control of your heart health — call one of their offices in Peoria, Buckeye, and Phoenix, Arizona, today or book online today.
An echocardiogram, or echo, uses ultrasound — high-frequency sound waves — to create pictures of your heart, showing how your heart muscle and valves function.
An echocardiogram allows your provider at Heart One Associates to assess your heart's function and identify any issues or problems. It is used to detect and monitor the following:
Your provider also uses an echocardiogram to assess the results of surgical procedures.
Your doctor at Heart One Associates has several options for echocardiograms depending on the information they need. They include:
Many heart problems occur only during physical exercise, particularly those that involve the coronary arteries — the arteries that carry blood to the heart muscle. A stress echocardiogram is a physical activity test performed in a controlled environment.
It involves riding a stationary bike or using a treadmill. If you are unable to exercise, an injected medication is provided to make your heart beat faster. Your doctor takes ultrasound images of your heart at the start of the exam and again at the end.
A transthoracic echocardiogram is the standard echocardiogram. Your provider uses a device called a transducer that emits an ultrasound beam through your chest and into your heart. The transducer records the sound wave echoes and sends the information back to a computer, which converts the sound waves into moving images on a monitor.
A transesophageal echocardiogram creates more detailed images than a transthoracic echocardiogram. Your provider guides a transducer placed at the end of a flexible tube down your throat. There, it captures a clearer recording of the sound wave echoes.
Your provider uses a doppler echocardiogram to measure the blood flow inside the heart. Sound waves change pitch when they hit blood vessels — changes called Doppler signals. The Doppler signals allow your provider to determine blood flow speed and direction in the heart and detect blood pressure and blood flow problems in the arteries.
The providers at Heart One Associates use echocardiograms to effectively diagnose and treat heart problems. Find out more today. Call the practice and speak with a friendly staff member or request an appointment online.
