What is a transthoracic echocardiographic examination
Transthoracic echocardiography is a diagnostic imaging
methodology that utilises ultrasounds, that is the transmission of high
frequency ultrasound waves (2-10 MHz), which cannot be heard by humans, and
which are transmitted by a transducer which is positioned by the operator on
the thorax of the patient. Ultrasound waves are reflected by the structures of
the heart, picked-up by the transducer, and processed by the ultrasound
equipment, which creates real-time bi-dimensional images of heart sections, as
selected by the operator. On the other hand, the Doppler technique analyses
with ultrasounds the blood flow within the cardiac chambers and connected
vessels. The echocardiographic examination is the sum of different imaging
modalities: the bi-dimensional (2D) exam, the mono-dimensional (M-mode) exam,
the color Doppler examination, and the continuous wave, pulsed wave and tissue
Doppler examinations; as a whole, these informations constitute a complete
echocardiographic exam, which provides antomical, functional and hemodynamic
informations of the complex structure represented by the heart.
In specific situations, when requested, the echocardiogram may be
implemented with:
- A thre-dimensional (3D) echocardiogram. In this case, the
heart is represented in three dimensions. The increased spatial
information is obtained at the expense of a decreased capacity to describe
a number of cardiac structures (those smaller and thinner).
- Contrast echocardiography. A saline solution or a specific
contrast agent is infused after puncture of a vein in the arm, with the
aim to visualise small congenital intracardiac defects (as a patent
foramen ovale or anomalous pulmonary return).
The echocardiographic examination represents, together with
the electrocardiogram, the basic diagnostic methodology to study any type of
heart disease.
L’esame ecocardiografico transtoracico viene eseguito da
un medico cardiologo o da un tecnico di ecocardiografia supervisionato da un
medico cardiologo.
This type of technology is non invasive and does not cause any kind of
tissue damage (unlike the radiations utilised in diagnostic radiology), may be
performed quickly and with relative ease in expert hands, and thus is easily
repeatable within the limits of prescription appropriateness (established by
scientific associations: American
Society of Echocardiography). As a matter of fact, it is not convenient to
perform this examination without a specific request by a physician. It is very
important that the results, be them quantitative (the Measurements) or
qualitative of this exam, as described in the report (the Comments and
Conclusions), be interpreted for the patient by the physician that has
requested the examination, which takes into consideration the patient's
clinical situation and complaints. Finally, the echocardiographic examination
is a diagnostic imaging technique that acquires moving images,
and thus the eventually enclosed photographic pictures only partially
represent specific portions of the examination.
The exam
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