Echocardiography
The echocardiography laboratory, directed by Dr. Theresa Tacy, evaluates patients ranging from the fetus to the adult with congenital heart disease, providing high quality diagnostic services in a patient-friendly environment. There are 7 full-time readers of cardiac ultrasound including Drs. Balasubramanian, Kipps, Murphy, Olson, Punn, Tierney, and Tacy, who are all experienced echocardiographers. In addition, the ultrasonographers in the laboratory are all experienced and provide supervision and training on all aspects of cardiac ultrasound. There are a total of more than 10,000 studies performed per year in the program. In addition to standard transthoracic echocardiography, he laboratory encompasses the Fetal Cardiac Diagnostic Center which studies nearly 1,100 patients a year, which provides diagnosis, management and patient counseling for fetal heart disease, and which coordinates closely with the arrhythmia service for the diagnosis and treatment of fetal cardiac arrhythmias. Additionally, there is an active intra-operative transesophageal echocardiography service that provides diagnostic support for the surgical program. The laboratory performs nearly 800 transesophageal studies per year. Regular reading sessions are performed with the fellows. Conferences on the various aspects of the disciplines of cardiac ultrasound, and their clinical relevance, are presented by the Echo Laboratory attending physicians.