Patient's question:
When I gave birth to my daughter, she was premature. An MRI scan revealed hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. She has been in the incubator for nearly 20 days. A few days ago, she consumed 30 milliliters of formula milk, but today, her intake is good some days and poor other days. The doctor recommended an echocardiogram, but I don't know if a baby this small can undergo an echocardiogram or if we should wait a bit longer.What kind of help do I need: When is the best time to do an echocardiogram?
Doctor's answer:
An echocardiogram is the only instrument that can dynamically display the structures within the heart chambers, the heartbeat, and blood flow, and it poses no harm to the human body. The heart probe is like the lens of a camera. As the probe rotates, the various structures of the heart are clearly displayed on the screen. For example, congenital heart disease, with its more than 100 types of deformities, can all be shown through echocardiography. We can see residual holes and the blood flow through them on the screen; we can observe the thickening of the valves, the reduction in their openings, and the high-speed blood flow through these openings; we can see changes in the left and right, as well as the anterior and posterior positions of the heart structures, and the resulting changes in blood flow paths; we can also see various deformities associated with the abnormally positioned heart.