An echocardiogram, or echo, is an ultrasound study of your heart muscle, heart valves and pericardium (the sac surrounding your heart). This painless test uses sound waves to see how well your heart is working. A wand-like instrument makes the sound waves. As the ultrasound wand is moved over your chest, pictures of your heart appear on a screen and are digitally recorded and saved electronically. An echocardiogram takes about 30 to 45 minutes to complete. On the day of your appointment, go to the second floor of Abbott Northwestern’s Heart Hospital to Cardiovascular Diagnostic Services. (Choose from the following links to view maps and directions or a campus guide.) When you register, you will be given a pager, which we will use to notify you when we’re ready for your test to begin. A technician will escort you to the exam room.

• Do not eat or drink anything 6 hours before the test.
  
  
• Take any medicines with a small sip of water.
  
  
• As an outpatient, you will need to arrange for someone to drive you home.
  
  
• You will sign a consent form.

• If you wear dentures, you will be asked to remove them.
  
  
• A nurse will put electrocardiogram (EKG) patches on your chest to monitor your heartbeat.
  
  
• A nurse will also put on a blood pressure cuff and finger probe (to monitor the amount of oxygen in your blood).
  
  
• An intravenous (IV) line will be inserted in your hand or arm for fluids or medicines.
  
  
• You will be awake during the test, but you will be given medicine to make you more comfortable and relaxed. This will also reduce the amount of saliva in your mouth.
  
  
• The doctor will spray your throat with a numbing medicine.
  
  
• You will be asked to lie on your left side when the doctor puts the flexible tube, about the size of your index finger, down your throat. Once you swallow it, you will be given a bite block on which you will rest your teeth.
  
  
• The tip of the tube produces sound waves. The sound waves bounce off your heart and are changed into pictures on a screen.
  
  
• The cardiologist will move the tube and take pictures of your heart and blood flow for 15 minutes. You may feel the doctor moving the tube, but it shouldn’t be painful or interfere with your breathing.

• Your vital signs (temperature, pulse, respirations and blood pressure) will be watched for a short time after the test.
  
  
• Once you are awake and are alert, you will be sent back to your room or discharged home.
  
  
• Do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours after your test, due to the numbness in your throat.
  
  
• Do not eat hot food or drink alcoholic beverages until the next day.
  
  
• Do not drive until the next day.
  
  
• You may have a dry, scratchy throat. You may drink lots of water and use cough drops to soothe your throat.
  
  
• Your doctor will get the test results.

Other tests for this sub-specialty

• Cardiovascular MRI
• Coronary CT Angiogram Scan
• Exercise Stress Testing
• HeartScan (Electron Beam Coronary Calcium Scoring)
• MUGA Scan (Radionuclide Angiogram)
• Mycardial Perfusion Scan
• Stress Echocardiogram
• Transesophageal Echocardiogram