What is the difference between an EKG and an Echocardiogram?

Many patients make the mistake of thinking an echocardiogram and EKG tests are one and the same, but that is not the case. While their formal names may sound the same – electrocardiogram machines and echocardiogram machines each perform a unique test on the patient’s heart.

An EKG machine uses small electrodes that attach to a patient’s arms, legs and chest to record the electrical activity in the heart. It can detect heart rhythms that are either too fast or too slow, as well as arrhythmia and conditions like cardiomyopathy.

An echocardiogram machine takes an ultrasound of the heart by measuring the reverberated sound waves as they bounce off of the structure of the heart muscle. Many doctors find the results of an echo more valuable because it gives them a real-time view of the heart.

Instead of producing an image of the heart, an EKG machine graphs the electrical impulses of the heart to diagnose the presence of cardiovascular disease. Because electrical disturbances within the heart will not be anatomically detectable in an echocardiogram, EKG testing provides doctors with valuable information about the rhythms of the heart.

On the other hand, echocardiography shows the physical characteristics of the heart on a video screen, based on the recorded ultrasound waves that reflect back to the probe. It allows doctors to visualize certain cardiac pathologies that may have only been implied by the EKG machine. By directly visualizing each of the heart’s chambers, an echocardiogram can detect enlargement of the heart, abnormal septal motion and various other structural disorders.

EKG machines and echocardiograms are distinct and complementary diagnostic tests, and are not competitive with one another. When a patient exhibits signs of heart disease, most doctors will order both tests.

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