Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is a defect in the heart that occurs at birth. The term CHD accounts for a wide variety of defects. These defects occur when the heart or blood vessels near the heart do not develop properly before birth. This abnormal development can lead to many heart abnormalities including poor pumping function, blood not flowing where it is normally supposed to go, or obstructions to proper blood flow. All of these defects can create a strain on the heart by causing the heart to work harder or beat faster. Cardiac ultrasound can accurately detect a variety of types of CHD.

The Aortic Valve is the valve through which blood normally exits the heart into the Aorta, the main blood vessel in the body. Blood in the Left Ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart) is pumped through the Aortic Valve which then closes between heart beats to keep the blood from flowing back into the Left Ventricle. Aortic Valve Disease is a broad category of abnormalities of the Aortic Valve. Cardiac ultrasound can accurately detect a variety of Aortic Valve Diseases including:

• Aortic Stenosis (AS): a narrowing of the valve's opening.
• Aortic Regurgitation (AR): a leak of the valve, allowing blood to flow from the left ventricle back into the left atrium.

The Mitral Valve is the valve separating the upper and lower chambers of the left side of the heart. Blood from the upper chamber (left atrium) normally flows through the Mitral Valve to the lower chamber (left ventricle). Mitral Valve Disease is a broad category of abnormalities of the Mitral Valve. Cardiac ultrasound can accurately detect a variety of Mitral Valve Diseases including:

• Mitral Stenosis (MS): a narrowing of the valve's opening.
• Mitral Regurgitation (MR): a leak of the valve, allowing blood to flow from the left ventricle back into the left atrium.
• Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP): a bowing or sagging of the valve into the left atrium which is commonly associated with MR.

Cardiomegaly is a term referring to enlargement of the heart. Cardiomegaly comes in two forms:

• Dilation of one or more heart chambers.
• Hypertrophy (thickening) of the heart muscle.

Cardiomegaly is not always a negative or abnormal finding. Athletes, for instance, can have enlarged but not abnormal hearts. Cardiomegaly is, however, more often associated with many serious medical conditions.

Hypertrophy is a term referring to an increase in size. The hypertrophy that can be identified on a Cardiac HealthScreen is a thickening of the heart muscle. This thickening can be a result of many causes but the most common cause is high blood pressure. Similar to a weight lifter using increasingly greater weights to cause his/her muscles to enlarge (hypertrophy), the heart muscle also becomes thickened (hypertrophied) when it must pump against a higher pressure. Thickened heart muscle can lead to many different problems including ischemia (poor blood supply), arrhythmias (abnormal electrical function of the heart), and cardiomyopathy.

The term cardiomyopathy literally means heart muscle disease in which the heart muscle function has deteriorated. Anyone with a cardiomyopathy is at increased risk of arrhythmia (an abnormal electrical function of the heart) and/or sudden cardiac death. Cardiomyopathy can be caused by a disease outside (extrinsic to) the heart muscle itself which your doctor may or may not know about. These diseases of the heart muscle can be due to such causes as ischemia (poor blood supply), high blood pressure, heart valve problems, and alcohol consumption. Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common type of cardiomyopathy in which the cause is a disease inside (intrinsic to) the heart muscle itself with no apparent external cause. Incidentally, the term Dilated Cardiomyopathy is commonly (though not really correctly) used to describe some of the types of extrinsic cardiomyopathies. All types of cardiomyopathy can be detected by a cardiac ultrasound.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease of the walls (muscle) of the heart. In HCM, the walls of the heart are thickened without any obvious cause. This muscle thickening is best-known as the cause of sudden death in young athletes but it is more significant to note that HCM is a cause of unexpected sudden cardiac death for any age group. Sudden death from HCM can occur for two primary reasons:

• Obstruction of blood flow from the heart due to the thickened muscle blocking the area blood exits the heart.

• In HCM, the fibers that make up the muscle are not aligned as they are in normal heart muscle. This disarray of the fibers in a heart with HCM can also cause a disruption of the heart's electrical functions.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophy

Cardiomegaly

Mitral Valve Disease

Aortic Valve Disease

Congenital Heart Disease