Echographie pelvienne | Centre Médical Argen

Cardiac ultrasound

Our cardiologists perform transthoracic echocardiography at the Argentina Medical Center.

What is a cardiac ultrasound used for? ?

During a cardiac ultrasound, many measurements are made.

Anatomical measurements relate to the size and morphology of the various structures that make up the heart : ventricles, auricles, cardiac muscle, valves (valves ensuring tightness) and pericardium (envelope of the heart).

Functional analysis consists of observing how the heart muscle contracts, how the valves open and close and how the blood circulates, represented by colors. The use of the Doppler makes it possible to evaluate the flows and the pressures in your heart.

The coronary arteries are not visible in echocardiography but it is possible to assess the impact of a myocardial infarction on the heart muscle by visualizing an area that no longer contracts.

Cardiac ultrasound is therefore essential for the diagnosis and monitoring of any heart disease, in particular:

- diagnose and monitor diseases of the heart valves (heart murmur, valvular prostheses), of the heart muscle (myocardial infarction, dilated or hypertrophied heart) or of the pericardium (pericarditis) ;

- screen for cardiac complications of high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol ;

- look for the cause of cerebrovascular accidents (cerebral infarction or intracranial hematoma) ;

- monitor the cardiac tolerance of chemotherapy ;

- check the good health of your heart before surgery…

What equipment is used at the Argentina Medical Center ?

For carrying out cardiac ultrasounds, the Argentine Medical Center has a latest generation ultrasound scanner, an EPIQ CVx from Philips Healthcare.

Its technology offers very good quality ultrasound images, thanks to excellent spatial and temporal resolution.

It also has recent semi-automatic core analysis software, the use of which is now recommended for its reliability and reproducibility. :

Dynamic Heart Model (3-dimensional heart analysis) ;
Auto-Strain (measurement of the deformation of the heart muscle).

A complete report of your cardiac ultrasound will be given to you at the end of the examination, including photos of your heart, the interpretation of the results and any recommendations for your treatment.

Since the echocardiography is a dynamic examination, you will also be given a DVD containing the videos of your heart, so that your doctor can view your entire examination.