Echocardiography: MedlinePlus Medical Test

What is echocardiography?

Echocardiography (also called an electrocardiogram or “echo”) is an ultrasound exam of the heart. An ultrasound is an imaging test that uses sound waves to create pictures of organs and other structures inside your body. An echocardiograph uses a specific type of ultrasound (sometimes called a transthoracic ultrasound) that can show a moving image of the heart.

An echocardiogram uses sound waves to check:

• Your heart’s size and structure
• Your heart’s valves
• The strength of your heart’s walls
• How well your heart pumps blood
• The pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart)

There are several types of echocardiography. The most common type is called a transthoracic echocardiogram (or TTE). For this type, a health care professional applies gel to a transducer (a wand-like device) and moves it across your chest. The transducer sends ultrasound waves into your chest, and the waves bounce (or echo) back. When they echo back, the transducer sends the echoes to a computer which then changes them into pictures.

In some cases, however, your health care provider may need to perform a transesophageal echocardiogram (or TEE) test. This test lets your provider get a more detailed look at the blood flow in your heart. To do this test, they will have to attach the transducer to a tube that they’ll insert down your esophagus (the muscular tube that carries food and liquids from your mouth to the stomach). You’ll be given medicine to relax you and numb the back of your throat before the scope is guided into your esophagus.

Other names: transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE), transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), stress echocardiography, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), contrast echocardiography, strain imaging, 3-D echocardiography, echo, heart echo, heart/cardiac ultrasound, heart sonogram