Who Needs Echocardiography?
Your doctor may recommend echocardiography if you’re suffering from signs and symptoms of heart problems. For example, symptoms such as shortness of breath and swelling in the legs can be due to weakness of the heart (heart failure), which can be seen on an echocardiogram. Doctors also use echocardiography to provide information on: • The size of your heart. An enlarged heart can be the result of high blood pressure, leaky heart valves, or heart failure. • Heart muscles that are weak and aren’t moving (pumping) properly. Weakened areas of heart muscle can be due to damage from a heart attack. Or weakening could mean that the area isn’t getting enough blood supply, which can be due to coronary artery disease. • Problems with your heart’s valves. Echocardiography can show whether any of the valves of your heart don’t open normally or don’t form a complete seal when closed. • Abnormalities in the structure of your heart. Echocardiography can detect a variety of heart abnormalities, such a
