Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month (MUAM) is recognized in October to create awareness of diagnostic sonographers' role in the community. This is to educate the public about medical ultrasound and its many uses in healthcare. It also gives ultrasound technicians an opportunity to celebrate their profession and the contributions of sonography in healthcare.
North Suffolk Cardiology offers multiple diagnostic cardiovascular ultrasounds that can significantly impact a patient's healthcare and treatment plan. The most common ultrasound utilized is an echocardiogram.
What is an echocardiogram?
An echocardiogram is a diagnostic test that uses ultrasound waves to create an image of the heart.
Your doctor may use an echocardiogram, or echo, to look at the heart muscle's size, structure, and function and the heart valves. This allows for diagnostic evaluation, initiation of a proper medical plan and surveillance of your cardiac function.
Why is an echocardiogram ordered?
An echocardiogram will allow the evaluation of cardiac dysfunction. You will likely be referred for an echocardiogram if you have:
• Signs and symptoms such as chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, palpitations or abnormal heart sounds
• Had a heart attack or heart surgery
• Been diagnosed with a heart condition like cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease) or valvular disease (leaky or tight valves).
Another common use of ultrasound technology is a carotid ultrasound.
A carotid ultrasound is a safe, painless procedure that uses sound waves to examine the blood flow through the carotid arteries.
This ultrasound is performed to evaluate for plaque accumulation in the carotid arteries. Plaque in the carotid arteries can pose a significant risk of stroke and increased risk of heart disease. Early diagnosis and treatment of a narrowed carotid artery can decrease the risk of stroke.
Your doctor may recommend a carotid ultrasound if you have medical conditions, including:
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• High cholesterol
• Family history of stroke or heart disease
• Recent transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke
• Abnormal sound in carotid arteries (bruit), detected by your doctor using a stethoscope
• Coronary artery disease
• Dizziness or lightheaded
A stress echocardiogram is also performed at North Suffolk Cardiology which uses ultrasound technology.
A stress echocardiogram couples an echocardiogram (ultrasound of your heart) with a stress test (monitoring your heart activity while your heart is induced to work harder under stress). Images of your heart are captured before the stressing of the heart and again immediately after stress. This is a noninvasive test that takes approximately an hour to perform.
Aortic iliac ultrasound is also performed at North Suffolk Cardiology.
This is a sonogram using sound waves to visualize your aorta and all of the main arteries attached to it. Since the aorta is the main artery in the body, your physician may want you to have this test to rule out any life-threatening or limb-threatening problems such as an abdominal aortic aneurysm.