WHAT IS A 2D ECHO TEST?

A 2D Echo test, also known as echocardiogram gives live images of heart functioning using sound waves. There are total five types of echocardiograms:

• Transthoracic echocardiography
• Three-dimensional echocardiography
• Transesophageal echocardiography.
• Fetal echocardiography
• Stress echocardiogram.

WHY IS A 2D ECHO TEST PERFORMED ?

2D echo test helps your doctor to monitor how your heart and its valves are functioning. It is also used to check your heart's ability to pump in case of heart problems, such as chest pain or shortness of breath. The images that are generated with the test helps your doctor in identifying:

• Blood clots within your heart
• If there is any fluid in the sac around the heart
• Problems with the main artery (aorta) connected to the heart
• After a heart attack, the doctor uses the 2D echo test to determine the health of the heart muscles.

HOW IS A 2D ECHO TEST PERFORMED?

• Before the 2D echo test, no special preparations are required. Although, the doctor might ask you to not eat anything before a few hours of the test.
• During the test, sound waves will be transmitted to your heart using a small hand-held device called a transducer, which sends and receives signals.
• Heart walls and valves react to these sound waves with other sound waves, which generate an image.
• The hard copy of the picture is black and white, while the soft copy is a color image that comes on the screen while performing the test.