Our Services
Medical Imaging & Screening Centre
Echocardiography
Echocardiography is used to aid diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. It can provide a wealth of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart, it's pumping capacity and the location and extent of any damage to its tissues and is especially useful for assessing diseases of the heart valves.
By assessing the motion of the heart wall, echocardiography can help detect the presence and assess the severity of coronary artery disease and help determine whether chest pain is related to heart disease. The biggest advantage of echocardiography is that it is non-invasive and has no known side effects.
An echocardiogram, often referred to as a cardiac ECHO, is an ultrasound scan of the heart. It uses standard ultrasound techniques to image 3 dimensional real time pictures of the heart. Structures visualised with echocardiography:
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valves
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4 chambers of the heart
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wall thickness
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amount of muscle contraction
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pericardium
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intracardiac masses
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ascending aorta
What is involved during an echocardiogram?
You will be asked to undress and wear a gown. The consultant/sonographer will place three electrodes (small, flat, sticky patches) on your chest, which will chart your heart's electrical activity. An ultrasound transducer/probe will be placed on several areas of your chest and you may be asked to change positions during the examination or hold your breath in order to take images of different areas of the heart.
You should feel no major discomfort during the examination. You may feel coolness from gel on the transducer and a slight pressure from the transducer on your chesrt. The entire examination will take approximately 30-40 minutes.
A cardiologist will review your test and arrange a time to discuss your results.
Consultants: (click name to view bio)
- Dr Geoff Richardson
Dr Geoff Richardson
- Dr P Donnelly
Dr P Donnelly
- Dr C Hanratty
Dr C Hanratty
- Dr M Spence
Dr M Spence
- Dr Frank Casey
Dr Frank Casey
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children
Dr.Casey is a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at The Royal Belfast Hospital For Sick Children, which is the Regional Paediatric Cardiology Centre for Northern Ireland. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer in The Department of Child Health at Queen`s University Belfast.
He graduated with Honours in Biochemistry from Queens University Belfast, before studying Medicine at University College Cork. He trained in Paediatrics before specialising in Paediatric Cardiology. His training in Paediatric Cardiology included to years as a Clinical Fellow in the Division of Cardiology at The Hospital For Sick Children, Toronto.
His special area of interest is in Echocardiography and he is Director of the Regional Fetal Cardiology service for Northern Ireland. His research interests are in the applications of Telemedicine to Paediatric Cardiology, Fetal Cardiology and the long-term educational and psychosocial outcome for children after surgery for congenital heart disease. Dr. Casey has more than twenty published papers and has given many presentations at international meetings.
- Dr Gavin Dalzell
Dr Gavin Dalzell
- Dr Niall Herity
Dr Niall Herity
