Reasons for the Test

• Your doctor may order echocardiography for a variety of reasons, including the assessment of damage done by a heart attack, as mentioned above. MedlinePlus says the procedure also can be used to diagnose and monitor heart murmurs, valve abnormalities, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, cardiac infections such as endocarditis and pericarditis, and pulmonary hypertension.
  
  

How It's Done

• Echocardiography can be performed in a doctor's office or a hospital. You will be asked to remove all clothing above the waist, after which an instrument called a transducer will be manually moved over your breastbone and left-side ribs in the area surrounding the heart. The transducer sends high-frequency sound waves toward the heart, and the echoes of these sound waves are transmitted back to the electrocardiography machine, which converts them into "moving pictures of the heart," according to MedlinePlus. Occasionally, the sonographer may inject contrast material to sharpen the ultrasound images being received.
  
  

Transesophageal Echocardiography

• If the doctor needs to obtain a more precise look at the structures of the heart, he may order transesophageal echocardiography (TEE.) This is a minimally invasive test in which a miniaturized transducer, mounted at the forward tip of a catheter, is introduced into your throat and threaded through the esophagus until it reaches an area adjacent to the heart. Generally, patients undergoing a TEE are lightly sedated for the procedure, which is very similar to an endoscopic examination of the upper digestive tract.
  
  

Preparations for Testing

• No special preparations are needed in advance of a conventional echocardiography procedure. However, because the patient usually receives conscious, or waking, sedation for a TEE, your doctor will probably order that you eat or drink nothing for a specified number of hours before the test is scheduled. This is to reduce or eliminate the risk of nausea or vomiting during the procedure.
  
  

Risks and Side Effects

• Although there is no such thing as a risk-free medical procedure, conventional echocardiography comes very close. There is a slight chance of an allergic reaction to contrast material that might be injected if the sonographer deems it necessary to enhance the images being received. Side effects of a TEE include extreme drowsiness after the procedure because of the sedation medication and throat soreness that might occur if the catheter accidentally should scrape its lining.