Echocardiogram
Echocardiograms at UVM Health
An echocardiogram uses sound waves to view your heart’s structure and valves. It is used to evaluate how well your heart is pumping blood and diagnose many cardiovascular conditions.
With locations across Vermont and northern New York, you’re never far from a University of Vermont Health heart and vascular specialist.
Our cardiology experts read and analyze studies and use advanced techniques to make a precise diagnosis quickly to get you on your way to the right treatment.
Why Choose UVM Health?
As a leading heart and vascular program in the region, we offer:
- Efficient testing: When your physician orders an echocardiogram, a specialized nurse reviews the request to ensure it’s the best diagnostic test for your symptoms. If we think there’s an option that might work better, we work directly with your physician to discuss all the possible options. This step in our process reduces the chances that you'll receive repeat or unnecessary testing.
- Team-based care, convenient to you: Our coordinated approach ensures you’re always connected to the expertise of a larger team of cardiologists, electrophysiologists, surgeons and other specialists.
Conditions We Diagnose With Echocardiograms
We use echocardiograms to diagnose a range of conditions, including:
- Cardiomyopathy: A condition in which the heart has difficulty pumping blood through the body
- Congenital heart disease: Problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth
- Coronary artery disease: Narrowing in the blood vessels that carry blood to the heart, most often caused by a buildup of a fatty substance called plaque
- Heart failure: A chronic condition in which the heart doesn’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs
- Heart valve disease: Leaking or narrowing in the heart valves, which control how blood flows through the heart
Types of Echocardiograms
There are many types of echocardiograms. Your provider will order the most appropriate type based on your condition.
Common types of echocardiograms include:
- Transthoracic echocardiogram: This is the most common type of echocardiogram. A provider spreads gel on a special device called a transducer and place it on your chest to record sound wave echoes that create a picture of your heart.
- Doppler echocardiogram: As sound waves move through your heart, they emit different pitches called Doppler signals. Tracking the Doppler signals during an echocardiogram can give us more information about how blood flows through your heart.
- Stress echocardiogram: Your provider combines an echocardiogram with a stress test. They take an echocardiogram before and after you exercise or take a medication that mimics the effects of exercise. This helps to check for problems with your coronary arteries and your heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently, and to better evaluate heart valve disease.
- Contrast echocardiogram: Your care team injects a contrast dye into your blood vessels. This contrast dye shows up brightly on the ultrasound, helping our team get a better view of your heart’s structure.
- Transesophageal echocardiogram: You receive throat numbing medication and sedating medications to remain calm and comfortable during the test. The provider guides a flexible tube with a transducer down your throat and swallowing tube (esophagus) to take an ultrasound of your heart from inside your body.
What to Expect During an Echocardiogram
You usually don’t need to do anything special to prepare for an echocardiogram. If you are having a transesophageal echocardiogram, we may advise you to avoid eating for several hours before the test.
During a standard echocardiogram, a sonographer:
- Attaches sticky patches (electrodes) to your chest that help detect your heart’s electrical signals
- Spreads a gel across the transducer device
- Firmly presses the transducer against your chest and moves it back and forth
- Asks you to breathe at certain times or move into certain positions, as needed
During a transesophageal echocardiogram, the cardiologist:
- Numbs your throat with a special gel or spray
- Provides sedating medications through an IV to allow you to remain calm and comfortable during the test
- Inserts the flexible tube with the transducer into your throat
- Guides the transducer through your esophagus to get images of your heart
Your provider will receive the results shortly after the test is performed, discuss the results with you and recommend next steps. Depending on the results of an echocardiogram, you may need further testing to diagnose a heart condition.
Awards & Certifications
Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) for Echocardiography
IAC accreditation demonstrates that our echocardiography team meets the highest quality standards while continuously improving our care. Across the industry, many consider IAC accreditation to be the gold standard in imaging and intervention-based procedures.
Locations near you
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75 Park Street
Elizabethtown, NY 12932
101 Adirondack Drive
Suite 1
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
133 Park Street
Malone, NY 12953
62 Tilley Drive
Suite 101
South Burlington, VT 05403-4407
130 Fisher Road
MOB-A Suite 2-1
Berlin, VT 05602-9000
214 Cornelia Street
Suite 203
Plattsburgh, NY 12901-2332
115 Porter Drive
Middlebury, VT 05753-8527
