Echocardiogram for heart murmur in baby

[mrsjohno]

Hi

DD2 (4 months) is to have an echocardiogram tomorrow for a small heart murmur detected twice (when she's been unwell with a cold if that's relevant)

The letter from the hospital doesn't give any description of what to expect and I can't find much info online except sometimes it requires a sedative?

Can anyone help with what to expect? What happens, how long might it take (will have toddler in tow), will it require a sedative, do they give you the results there and then, that sort of thing?

Hi mrsjohno. My dd has a complex heart problem and has had many echos.

Usually the clinic is a 'one stop shop' so to speak though it depends on the hospital. They'll usually do weight and SATs (painless probe on the finger or toe) and an ecg as well as the echo. The echo can take anything from a few minutes upwards it depends on how wriggly dd is. It is basically an ultrasound scan like you have in pregnancy. Is dd breast or bottle fed ?- you can sometimes feed baby to calm her during the echo it depends whether they can get into a good position. My dd has had a sedated echo in the past; they used to give chloral hydrate orally to make her sleepy but I'm not sure what they give these days as dd is 21 now

After the tests you usually wait to see the consultant and they give you the results there and then.

Hope it goes well and it's just a flow murmur. Often children do have a murmur when they're unwell and it's not a cause for concern.

Thank you so much, incidental - that is so helpful. DD2 is both breast and expressed milk by bottle (feeding problems hopefully unconnected to anything cardiac) so that is a great tip. She's generally quite a calm baby - but I guess we'll see tomorrow!

I hope your DD is doing well and thank you again.

How did you get on today? Was thinking about you.

That's so kind, thank you!

It was OK, she got herself into a bit of a state so the cardiologist said that affected the results a bit, but she thought it was a soft innocent flow murmur (?) and only really to be heard when she was unwell or crying. Said she should grow out of it which is a relief and that we should go back in a year for another just to check all was fine.

Thank you again for your help and concern - am v touched!