ECGs and EKGs

Echocardiogram vs. EKG – Explained By A Cardiologist

Chemotherapy can create cardiac chaos, specifically congestive heart failure, where the heart cannot pump or fill the chambers strong enough to effectively circulate blood throughout the body. EKGs and ECGs are done prior to treatment to obtain baseline measurements of the heart. They are done during treatment (I’m getting them every three months) to monitor heart function and to track heart damage to ensure it is safe to continue treatment.

Echocardiogram (ECG)

An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. High frequency, ultrasonic sound waves are transmitted through a hand held wand (transducer) on the chest. The echo waves bounce back against what they run into, create moving images. The images show the structure and function of the heart including heart size, chamber size, valve function and blood flow.

Electrocardiogram (EKG)

An electrocardiogram traces electrical activity of the heart. Little sticky pad electrodes attached to wires are placed on your arms and chest. The wire are attached to a computer on the other end that reads the the electrical impulses and records them as a graphic image. The images gives information on heart rate, rhythm, muscle thickness, and chemical activity in the body.

What to expect

Painless procedures and no restrictions day of-unless you are hairy, and the sticky pads could pull some hairs. If you are really hairy you’d have to be shaved. You don the gown after undressing waist up. The electrodes are placed and the wires are hooked up to the computer. You lie on your left side for most of the the time. The technician applies gel to the wand and probes different areas of the chest. Bonus points for warm gel. And again with the breathing, they tell you when to breathe and remind you to stay still while they are measuring and recording images. They had to remind me to stay still when I talked. Either that or they just like it quiet. See if you can get your tech to laugh, there is literally nothing else to do while laying there. I did. The procedure takes between a half hour and an hour to complete.