Dobutamine Stress ECHO

It is a test that makes the use of sound waves to get detailed moving pictures of the heart without using radiations. In simple terms it can be referred as “sonography of the heart”. It is usually used in assessing disorders of heart like cardiomyopathies, congenital heart diseases, damage to the heart valves, blood pressure abnormalities etc. Electrodes are attached on the chest and a gel is applied( to ensure sound has an air free path) and the transducer is pressed against the chest which sends sound waves and receives the echoes from the heart and converts it into videos. For Stress ECHO, physical activity such as running on a treadmill or dobutamine medicine is advised immediately before the test.