Contrast Echocardiography in Bangalore

Contrast Echocardiography

Contrast Echocardiography in Bangalore | A newly developed type of echocardiography that gives more clarity to medical images produced

Contrast Echocardiography in Bangalore

Overview

A harmless contrast agent is injected into your bloodstream before carrying out an echocardiogram. This substance helps to create clearer images on the screen because of its high reactivity to sound. Blood usually appears just “black” in medical imaging, hence it becomes difficult to visualize aptly what problems there might be. Contrast is used in an echocardiogram to see the flow of blood and the heart muscle clearly.

What Can Indicate I Need Contrast Echocardiography?

Contrast Echocardiography in Bangalore | Contrast Echocardiography can help detect
certain heart conditions by checking the structure of the heart and surrounding
blood vessels, analysing blood flow, and assessing the pumping chambers of the
heart. It can be used to find out about the following:

Heart attack damage (heart muscle weakness)
Clots inside the heart chambers.
Congenital heart disease (defects that develop at birth like PFO, Pulmonary AV fistula)

Contrast echocardiography can also help your cardiologist decide on the best treatment for these conditions.

Contrast Echocardiography FAQs

1. When is contrast echocardiography required?

A contrast echo is consequently done when normal echocardiogram images are not of high enough quality to see all the details of the heart and its major blood vessels. From beginning to end, the test takes about 30 minutes. An echocardiogram lets your cardiologist see how well the heart muscle is working, see how the valves are functioning, and check for abnormal connections in the heart chambers.

2. What is the process of contrast echocardiography?

The process is similar to that of normal echocardiography, with only some minor differences. The procedure of contrast echocardiography has the following steps:

You’ll be asked to lie down on the hospital bed.
An IV line is inserted into a vein in your arm or hand.
Small sensor pads (electrodes) are put on your chest to monitor your heart rate. Additionally, special equipment is used to monitor your vital signs as well.
A cool gel is rubbed over your chest area to aid the transducer. The transducer then hovers over the heart on the skin. It emits sound waves that come back as echoes and hence signals are communicated to the computer.
The contrast agent is injected into your bloodstream through the IV line to eventually reach your heart.
Sometimes you may be asked to change positions so that images from different angles can be captured. And also will be asked to stay as still as possible so that the images captured are not blurry.
The pictures of your heart will then finally be reviewed by your cardiologist.

3. What is the contrasting agent used in echocardiography?

Saline (sterile salt water) and Definity are the two common contrast solutions which may be used. Each can showcase blood flow through the heart and improve the image of the heart that is produced.

4. How is the contrasting agent used in echocardiography?

Saline is one of the contrasting agents that are used. It is firstly shaken to create bubbles which are harmless, to be injected into the IV.

Definity is another used this is also injected into the IV during the echocardiogram. And its presence can be clearly seen in the heart.

5. Is contrast echocardiography risky or harmful?

No, it is a completely safe process. The contrasting agents are tried and tested to prove that they are harmless to the heart and body.

6. How long does contrast echocardiography take?

It usually takes up to 30-60 minutes of time.