Channel: Medical Animation
Now Playing: Echocardiogram Animation
Related Articles
- What Is Heart Failure?
- Slideshow: Foods to Save Your Heart
- WebMD Heart Disease Community
- Heart Attack Directory
- Transcript
You are in the WebMD Content Archive for WebMD Video.
WebMD archives all video content after 48 months to ensure our readers can easily find the most timely content.
To locate the most current information on this topic, please use our search box
Reviewed By: Louise Chang,
SOURCES: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: "Echocardiography."National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: "Types of Echocardiography."National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: "What to Expect During a Stress Test."American Heart Association: "Common Tests for Congenital Heart Defects."Texas Heart Institute: "Echocardiography."American Society of Echocardiography: "Heart Ultrasound."Mayo Clinic: "Echocardiogram."Cleveland Clinic:"Echocardiogram Overview."Government Employees Medical Scheme: "Echocardiogram."National Library of Medicine: "X-Plain Echocardiogram."Medline Plus: "Echocardiogram."
Copyright - All material ©1999 - 2010 Nucleus Medical Media Inc. All rights reserved.
An echocardiogram is a common test using sound waves to map out the shape and size of your heart, thus allowing your doctor to see how well your heart pumps blood and look for abnormalities of the heart valves and chambers. In a transthoracic echocardiogram, your sonographer will put a cool gel on your chest. Your sonographer will move a transducer firmly through the gel, sending painless sound waves to your heart. The sound waves bounce off your heart and echo back to the transducer. The sound waves are converted to moving images of your heart muscles, chambers, and valves on a video screen. A doppler echocardiogram records echoes from blood cells. The speed and direction of the blood flow indicate how well blood gets around inside your heart. A stress echocardiogram evaluates images of the heart before and after exercise, or following medication that simulates exercise on the heart. Comparing your echo results before and after activity provides your doctor information about certain heart problems, such as coronary artery disease, that may only occur with exertion. A transesophageal echocardiogram sends sound waves through a transducer passed gently down your throat while you are under sedation. This test provides a closer, more detailed evaluation of your heart.
Back Pain Test
Exercise for Better Sex
Vinegar for Diabetes
Drink Your Way To Weight Loss
Pre-Diabetes
Gallbladder Basics
Weight Loss Secret Weapon
IBS Trigger Foods
Does Porn Hurt a Relationship?
Male Orgasms: How They Change
Cholesterol-Busting Exercise
What's Your Sleep Personality?
Herpes Vaccine Study
Truth about Passing Gas
Are You Using a Condom Correctly?
Snoring Cure
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Diarrhea Causes and Treatments
Acupuncture for Back Pain
Common Constipation Treatments
Dirty Truth About Hand Washing
4-D Ultrasound
ED Exercise
Sex Advice for Single Women
Cholesterol Guidelines
Diagnosing Yeast Infections
Truth About Coffee
Healing Heel Pain
Snacks for Diabetics
Best Butt Exercises
To perform a video search, please enter a term in the search box located to the right of the video player above.
Not Available.
©2005-2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.
