Dr. Pham Tuyen, - Diagnostic Imaging Department, Victoria Healthcare International Clinic

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 Echocardiography is a painless method  used to examine abnormalities of the heart. This is similar to abdominal ultrasound, where technicians can view  the image of the heart count the heart beat and save the image data on the computer. 

 When is echocardiography ordered?

 Echocardiography is used to diagnose heart problems, help identify the size, measure the thickness-thin, observe the pumping of the blood and other heart activities. Technicians can observe and evaluate issues:

- Coronary thrombosis           

-From the abnormalities of the heart, find out the cause of rheumatoid arthritis

-Detecting congenital heart defects

-Detecting heart valve disease...

For cardiac operations, echocardiography is required and very useful in clinical diagnosis. 

How does echocardiography work?

Normal cases usually take a maximum of 45 minutes to finish the Echocardiography. You have to lie on your left  side and follow the instruction of ultrasound technicians. Technician will apply a gel layer to your chest to create a good contact environment between the devices that detects the signal connected to the computer, through the operation of high frequency wavelengths, the signal is sent to the screen and will be stored. 

In some special cases, the technician will inject a substance called photoconductor to make it easier to look at the signals of the heart. Usually echocardiography is combined with electrocardiography. From these two results, the doctor will have accurate conclusions about your cardiovascular condition. 

Echocardiography is not a treatment for heart diseases (if any), but merely a diagnostic imaging method, providing data for cardiologists to evaluate, diagnose and give optimal treatment orders.