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What Are the Risks of Echocardiography?
Transthoracic and fetal echocardiography (echo) have no risks. These tests are safe for adults, children, and infants.
If you have a transesophageal echo (TEE), some risks are associated with the medicine given to help you relax. For example, you may have a bad reaction to the medicine, problems breathing, and nausea (feeling sick to your stomach).
Your throat also might be sore for a few hours after the test. Rarely, the tube used during TEE causes minor throat injuries.
Stress echo has some risks, but they're related to the exercise or medicine used to raise your heart rate, not the echo. Serious complications from stress tests are very uncommon. Go to the Health Topics Stress Testing article for more information about the risks of that test.
Clinical trials are research studies that explore whether a medical strategy, treatment, or device is safe and effective for humans. To find clinical trials that are currently underway for Echocardiography, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.
The NHLBI updates Health Topics articles on a biennial cycle based on a thorough review of research findings and new literature. The articles also are updated as needed if important new research is published. The date on each Health Topics article reflects when the content was originally posted or last revised.
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