Echocardiogram Vs. Electrocardiogram

Echocardiograms and electrocardiograms are diagnostic devices used to determine heart health. The two may sound similar, but what they do is entirely different. An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) measures electrical conductivity of the heart. An echocardiogram displays the structure and motions of your heart.

Electrocardiogram Features

• An electrocardiogram measures electrical impulses that occur in the heart. Your doctor can use an electrocardiogram to look for patterns among these heartbeats and rhythms to diagnose various heart conditions. The procedure is non-invasive and uses electrical leads on the skin to monitor heartbeats.

Electrocardiogram Significance

• An electrocardiogram diagnoses cardiac problems such as coronary artery disease, heart defects, arrhythmia of the heart and blockages within the heart and can be used to verify a heart attack. Electrocardiograms are also used in measuring how your heart reacts to stress or exercise, or they can pinpoint heart rate in a resting or stress situation.

Echocardiogram Features

• An echocardiogram uses ultrasound waves or Doppler techniques to produce images of your heart to see how your heart is pumping blood. Non-invasive echocardiograms include the transthoracic echocardiogram and the Doppler echocardiogram. Sometimes it is necessary to have an invasive transesophagael echocardiogram in which a tube is placed down your esophagus if a normal echocardiogram cannot diagnose properly.

Echocardiogram Significance

• An echocardiogram looks for physical abnormalities in the heart and enlarged valves and it monitors the condition of cardiac muscle. An echocardiogram can also detect congenital heart defects in unborn babies. Echocardiograms can be used in stress tests as well and typically are performed immediately after exercise or when the heart is in a stress-induced state.