It’s an ultrasound for the heart – detecting waves of sound frequencies.

Sound is made up of lots of different frequency waves.

This high frequency is an ultrasound.  It’s too high to hear with the human ear.

These sound waves produce moving pictures of the heart and are viewed on a video screen.

An echo is a valuable tool to identify any heart abnormalities. It gives a wealth of information on how the heart is beating and the blood is pumping.  It can detect if there is any heart disease and if so, the severity of it.

It’s used to check the blood flow; heart muscle contraction (pumping ability of the heart); if each chamber of the heart is functioning properly; if the valves are working as they should and the strength of the heart.

An echo is noninvasive and doesn’t hurt at all.  You just have a lot of slimy goo on your chest when you’re done.

Typically the testing is around 15 – 30 minutes.

Your heart has four chambers and is approximately the size of a fist.  The chambers are: left ventricle, right ventricle, left atrium and right atrium.

The left and right ventricles pump blood out of the heart into your body.  The right ventricle pushes blood to your lungs and the left ventricle pumps blood to all of the other organs.

The right and left atrium hold the blood that returns to your heart and they empty it into the left and right ventricles at the proper moment.

HOW DOES MY HEART PUMP?

Picture your heart as the right heart pump and left heart pump working together in a cycle.  This is your heart’s function, to pump blood and circulate it throughout the body.

Your body’s organs return your inadequately oxygenated blood to the right atrium.  It is kept there until the right atrium contracts and allows your blood to enter into the right ventricle. Then the right ventricle contracts and the blood pumps into the pulmonary artery and next to your lungs where it gathers oxygen.

The left side pumps the well oxygenated blood. The blood returns from your lungs into the left atrium and will stay there until it contracts. When it contracts, the mitral valve opens and the blood enters into the left ventricle. The left ventricle will contract and the aortic valve will open and the blood will be pushed into your aorta, the main artery of the body. The aorta then carries the blood throughout your body.

HOW DOES MY HEART PUMPING CORRELATE WITH MY ARRHYTHMIA?

Essentially, the beat of your heart is your heart pumping.  When you have a heart arrhythmia there is something irregular about the rhythm of the pumping of your heart.   Nearly any arrhythmia can cause palpitations (extra heart beats).

To properly diagnose that the issue is not more serious, check with your doctor.  (LINK for your heart tests)

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