Echocardiography

Echocardiography services offered in Santa Monica, CA

If you want a radiation-free way to examine your heart, visit Jenica L. Ortega, MD, at Commons Clinic in Santa Monica, California, for echocardiography. Dr. Ortega can use echocardiography to assess your heart function, detect defects, and measure the strength of your heartbeats. To learn more about echocardiography and the detailed information it provides, you can call the office or book online today.

Echocardiography Q & A

What is echocardiography?

Echocardiography, sometimes called an “echo,” is a noninvasive imaging test. Instead of radiation, it uses ultrasound waves to create moving pictures of your heart, showing its size, shape, structure, and how well it’s working in real time.

Dr. Ortega uses a special device called a transducer to send high-frequency sound waves into the chest. These waves bounce off the heart’s structures and are displayed on a screen, providing a safe, painless way to examine the heart.

The primary types of echocardiography include the transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE), transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), and exercise stress echocardiogram. Dr. Ortega may recommend a test to:

Assess how well the heart muscle and valves function
Detect heart defects, valve problems, or fluid around the heart
Measure the pumping strength of the heart (ejection fraction)

Dr. Ortega can also utilize echocardiography to evaluate blood flow and pressure inside the heart chambers.

Who can benefit from echocardiography?

Dr. Ortega may recommend it if you:

Have symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, or swelling in the legs
Have an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) or a heart murmur
Have had a heart attack or are being monitored for heart failure
Are suspected of having heart valve disease or congenital heart defects
Need follow-up after heart surgery or cardiac procedures
Have certain chronic conditions (like high blood pressure or lung disease) that affect your heart

Echocardiography can be beneficial whether you have a known heart condition or need an evaluation for new symptoms.

What happens during echocardiography?

Echocardiography typically takes 30–60 minutes to complete. You lie on an exam table, usually on your left side, and small, sticky electrodes on your chest monitor your heart rhythm.

Your technician applies a gel to your chest to help transmit sound waves and moves the transducer across different areas. The device sends sound waves into the heart, and you can see the reflections displayed as moving images on a monitor.

You may need to move or hold your breath briefly to capture clear images.

After your test, no recovery time is necessary. Dr. Ortega reviews the images and discusses the findings with you.

By providing real-time images of the beating heart, echocardiography gives you and Dr. Ortega a clear window into your cardiac health. To schedule your echocardiography consultation, call Dr. Ortega or book online today.