What To Think About

• An echocardiogram provides detailed information about how well the heart is working and possible causes of chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and swelling.
• A transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) can be used to monitor your heart function during heart surgery, such as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. TEE also can be used to guide some procedures done during a cardiac catheterization. For more information, see the medical test Cardiac Catheterization.
• Sometimes doctors automatically schedule routine tests because they think that's what patients expect. But experts say that routine heart tests can be a waste of time and money. For more information, see Heart Tests: When Do You Need Them?