Echocardiography

Echocardiography or sonogram of the heart is the imaging test of the heart, which provides important information about heat size, structure and pumping function. Sonogram of the heart allows congenital heart disorders, structural heart diseases and valvular diseases of the heart to be identified. This non-invasive test is fast to administer, safe for the patient and easily reproduced.

Echocardiography lasts for about 15 minutes, but the time the test takes can be longer depending on the patient.
The patient lies down relaxed, and the cardiologist is moving the sensor on the chest surface, watching the image on the screen, i.e. “watches the heart by means of ultrasound”.
The results are printed out and given to the patient.

Echocardiography is normally performed for medical reasons on the basis of a doctor’s referral.
If a SEM doctor referred the young athlete to echocardiography based on the results of the health examination that was part of the “Young athletes’ health examination for the prevention of sport-related health risks” project, then the procedure will also be financed by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund.