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Sonographer doing an echocardiogram of a child Echocardiogram in the parasternal long-axis view, showing a measurement of the heart's left ventricle. Health societies recommend the use of echocardiography for initial diagnosis when a change in the patient's clinical status occurs and when new data from an echocardiogram would result in the physician changing the patient's care. [7]
The use of ICE is specialized and not intended for general echocardiography due to its cost and invasiveness. [1] [2] It is used as a part of a larger heart procedure. A typical use of ICE is for performing a transseptal puncture across the interatrial septum; in other words, pushing a catheter from the right atrium to the left atrium.
Doppler echocardiography is a procedure that uses Doppler ultrasonography to examine the heart. [1] An echocardiogram uses high frequency sound waves to create an image of the heart while the use of Doppler technology allows determination of the speed and direction of blood flow by utilizing the Doppler effect.
A transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) is the most common type of echocardiogram, which is a still or moving image of the internal parts of the heart using ultrasound. In this case, the probe (or ultrasonic transducer ) is placed on the chest or abdomen of the subject to get various views of the heart.
Medical ultrasound includes diagnostic techniques (mainly imaging techniques) using ultrasound, as well as therapeutic applications of ultrasound. In diagnosis, it is used to create an image of internal body structures such as tendons, muscles, joints, blood vessels, and internal organs, to measure some characteristics (e.g., distances and velocities) or to generate an informative audible sound.
A physician may recommend cardiac imaging to support a diagnosis of a heart condition. Medical specialty professional organizations discourage the use of routine cardiac imaging during pre-operative assessment for patients about to undergo low or mid-risk non-cardiac surgery because the procedure carries risks and is unlikely to result in the change of a patient's management. [1]
Medicare covers medically necessary echocardiograms. Learn the possible out-of-pocket costs depending on which part of Medicare covers the test.
Two forms of radiographic images are in use in medical imaging. Projection radiography and fluoroscopy, with the latter being useful for catheter guidance. These 2D techniques are still in wide use despite the advance of 3D tomography due to the low cost, high resolution, and depending on the application, lower radiation dosages with 2D technique.