Electrocardiogram or Echocardiogram: Which one do I need?
Electrocardiogram or Echocardiogram?
Now that good weather is approaching and races are proliferating, many athletes want to have a sports check-up to find out what their fitness level is.
We already told you about the stress test, which provides very useful information for proper training load management. But although less frequent, this stress test should be complemented with other studies, in this case, of the engine that moves our legs, the heart, which leads many athletes to ask:
What medical test should I have? Electrocardiogram or Echocardiogram? What are the differences and what is each for?
What is an electrocardiogram?
It is a simple and painless test, except for the need to attach electrodes, which at most can be somewhat uncomfortable. In addition, it will not take much time to perform.
Currently, many sports federations require it from their athletes as it provides relevant data regarding possible heart conditions. The electrocardiogram records the electrical activity of the heart, that is, the impulse that causes it to contract and effectively pump blood. Electrodes placed in strategic locations measure the heart's impulses from different angles. 
What information does an electrocardiogram give us?
The electrocardiogram shows particular patterns for each athlete, the variations that may appear indicate to the doctor if there is a heart problem. Among the parameters that the electrocardiogram reveals during the test are rhythm and regularity, potentially revealing current disorders and even those prior to the day of the test.
Among the pathologies it helps locate are atrial blockages, arrhythmias, or even undiagnosed previous heart attacks, so performing it before any sports event is a great preventive measure.
The echocardiogram.
If the electrocardiogram is a painless test, the echocardiogram can even be pleasant. The process is carried out using an Echograph, which uses ultrasounds to reveal our internal organs in detail. Lying on your side, the Echograph takes real-time images, and can even record the process and the movement of our heart.
Depending on the type of echocardiograph used, images can be obtained in 2D, 3D, or even with contrasts to visualize blood flow in the heart and arteries.
What does the Echocardiogram tell us?
The echocardiogram allows us to "see" the physical state of our heart, if there is any anomaly in terms of shape, size, strength (since the heart is a muscle), the functioning of the valves, the pressures it withstands, and even the thickness of its walls.
A cardiologist can observe the functioning of our "engine" and detect, for example, if there is an effusion, an abnormal size of a ventricle, or a leak in a valve closure (commonly known as a heart murmur).
Which one is right for me?
Obviously, these are complementary tests, which allow us to have an exact knowledge of the state of our heart. It should be noted that these tests must be performed by a specialized cardiologist, who will be best prepared to detect any abnormality or symptom.
If we undergo a complete diagnosis (the ideal scenario), we should start with an Echocardiogram with ECG (in some cases, it can be done simultaneously) to know the electrical and physical state of our heart, and then a stress test that provides precise data to adapt our training and achieve maximum performance.
None of these tests excludes the others, as each provides different data on the state of our "engine," so let's take advantage of the doctor's visit to perform them all.
