Summary
Ultrasound examination of the heart (echocardiography) has become an important part of today’s diagnosis of heart disease. The largely non-invasive possibility of displaying the heart function in the “echo” can reveal numerous heart diseases such as valve defects, constrictions (stenoses), short circuits between the chambers or atria (shunts) and wall movement disorders. Minimally invasive transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) can also be used to visualize the heart function of obese or lung patients, whereas classical transthoracic echocardiography is no longer meaningful.
The various settings on the ultrasound device allow the blood flow, short circuits or insufficiencies of the valves to be displayed in color. With the M- Mode it is possible to visualize the movements of the valves and the left ventricle on a horizontal one-dimensional line. Due to these numerous possibilities and the minimally invasive examination method, echocardiography has become indispensable in the diagnosis of heart diseases.
All articles in this series: