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Echocardiography

The echocardiography team provides a comprehensive service in ultrasound imaging, including transthoracic, transesophageal, fetal, stress, and intravascular studies.
 
More than 5,000 echocardiograms are performed each year at the Children’s Heart Centre. The echocardiography laboratory has four standard echocardiography machines. In addition, a portable machine is used at pediatric partnership clinics across the province. The echocardiography laboratory uses a modern digital storage system allowing for easy access and transfer of patient records.
In addition to the standard M-mode, two-dimensional echocardiograms, pulse continuous wave, and color Doppler examinations, the laboratory performs approximately 200 trans-esophageal echocardiograms every year. These are primarily performed during the surgery or to assist in providing necessary information for an interventional cardiac catheterization procedure.

The echocardiography team has pioneered the use of semi-supine staged bicycle ergometry to assess cardiac function and it has developed a technique to assess the biophysical properties of the aorta.
A number of research projects are carried regularly in the echocardiography laboratory. These research initiatives include the use of tissue Doppler echocardiography and other new modalities for assessing myocardial function.
 
For more information, see referral information for professionals.