What is an echocardiogram? Will it harm the human body?
Echocardiography can use ultrasonic scanning to observe the heart structure, pulsation and blood flow through human bones and muscle soft tissues, and to clarify the function and integrity of the ventricles and great blood vessels. It is non-radioactive and toxic, and is a non-invasive gender checking technology.
What symptoms require an echocardiogram?
When the doctor auscultates heart murmurs, people who consider congenital heart disease, valvular disease and other diseases must have a color Doppler echocardiography; people with coronary heart disease, especially those with a history of myocardial infarction, must do a color Doppler echocardiography; when you are active Chest tightness, fatigue, oliguria, cardiac color Doppler ultrasound must be done when you sleep at night and cannot lie on your back; middle-aged and elderly people with high blood pressure, high blood fat and family history of heart disease are also recommended to have regular physical examinations, because many patients have atypical symptoms and need Cardiac ultrasonography is performed to understand the degree of involvement of these diseases on the heart and provide help for clinical treatment plans.
Can an echocardiogram be used to diagnose or rule out heart disease?
Cardiac ultrasound is mainly to observe the structure and function of the heart. For example, congenital heart disease and valvular disease can be diagnosed and ruled out by echocardiography. For other heart diseases such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, arrhythmia, etc., echocardiography can only provide information on the structure and function of the heart, and cannot rely solely on echocardiography. To diagnose or rule out heart disease, other methods are needed to make a comprehensive judgment. For some congenital heart disease patients, it can determine the type of congenital heart disease, so as to determine whether to operate and the operation plan. For some patients with atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect undergoing interventional closure, echocardiography can also be used to detect whether the placement of the occluder is appropriate during the operation.
Since echocardiography is so important, should we have an echocardiogram if there is nothing wrong?
Cardiac ultrasound is not necessary for everyone, and the following groups of people do not necessarily have to do cardiac ultrasound. If there is slight regurgitation of the valve in the previous cardiac ultrasound examination, and a mild murmur is heard on auscultation, the ultrasound examination can be skipped; if there is no history of hypertension or heart disease, and only mild chest pain, the ECG can be the first choice, and then do it when necessary Echocardiography; for patients with a history of coronary heart disease and no myocardial infarction, coronary artery CT examination is more meaningful than echocardiography; if there is arrhythmia such as palpitation and heartbeat, the significance of electrocardiogram and 24-hour dynamic electrocardiogram is more significant than echocardiography bigger.
What is the difference between echocardiography, electrocardiogram and coronary artery CT? Does echocardiography replace the other two?
