Echocardiography
Echocardiography is an ultrasound examination of the heart. It is absolutely painless and safe, performed by a cardiologist. Prices in Yerevan, Armenia.
Echocardiography is an ultrasound examination of the heart.
It is absolutely painless and safe. One of the advantages is that no X-rays are used during the examination.
rnDoppler examination and color Doppler are also used during echocardiography to assess blood flow through the valves.
There are the following types of echocardiography:
1. Transthoracic echocardiography
2. Transesophageal echocardiography
3. Stress echocardiography
In “VitaMed” MC, echocardiography is performed by a cardiologist.
Echocardiography assesses:
- Real-time myocardial function
- Size, structure, and volume of the heart chambers and valves
- Thickness of the myocardial walls (e.g., hypertrophy)
- Contractile function and weakness of the heart muscle (heart failure, diastolic dysfunction)
- Presence of congenital and acquired defects (atrial septal defects, patent foramen ovale, ventricular septal defects, mitral regurgitation, tricuspid regurgitation, aortic regurgitation, mitral stenosis, aortic stenosis).
- Changes in the size of the chambers and large vessels (e.g., aortic aneurysm, pulmonary artery dilation).
- Signs of myocardial infarction and post-infarction aneurysms (zones of hypokinesia, akinesia).
- Presence of fluid in the pericardium (pericarditis)
Indications for echocardiography:
- When there is pain in the chest
- Shortness of breath, shortness of breath
- Edema of the lower extremities
- Auscultative – the presence of heart murmurs
- Before certain surgeries
How to prepare for transthoracic echocardiography
1. Talk to your doctor before the examination, he will explain the examination procedure to you in detail.
2. Wear clothing that is easy to remove during the examination.
3. Warn the doctor if you have a pacemaker.
4. The patient does not have to be hungry during the examination.
What happens during the examination
During the examination, we follow the following sequence:
1. You should remove any jewelry or items that may interfere with the examination.
rn2. You take off your clothes
rn3. You lie down, turned on your left side
rn4. The room should be dark so that the image of the heart can be seen clearly
rn5. The doctor will examine your heart using a probe with gel
rn6. During the examination, the doctor moves the probe, trying to obtain an image of the heart from different angles. The doctor may ask you to take a deep breath, exhale, and hold your breath.
