Echocardiogram Echo
Ultrasound of the beating heart: chambers, valves and blood flow through them.
What it can show
How strongly the heart muscle contracts, valve narrowing or leaking, fluid around the heart, chamber sizes.
What it cannot show
Does not directly show the inside of the coronary arteries. Seeing coronary narrowing requires a different test.
This is the half people skip. A normal result answers one question, not every question.
Tell the staff before you start
Usually no contraindications.
Also bring the full list of every medicine and supplement you take. Things bought without a prescription belong on that list too.