Press Releases (2008)

Echocardiography Laboratory at EGHS Accredited
March 3, 2008

ELKHART, IN - It’s a painless, noninvasive test that has become a major tool in diagnosing heart disease.

That’s especially important because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, costing society over $83.7 billion each year in health services, medications, and lost work time due to disability.

Echocardiography uses sound waves to create images of the heart in patients suffering from signs and symptoms of heart problems. It provides physicians with vital information about the size and shape of the heart, plus how efficiently the chambers and valves operate. The test can also identify areas of heart muscle that do not contract normally, due to poor blood flow or injury from a previous heart attack.

The Echocardiography Laboratory at Elkhart General Hospital was recently granted accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). The EGH Lab is one of the first 1,000 echocardiography labs in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to receive such recognition. Board-certified Cardiologist Thomas F. Nolan, MD, is Medical Director of Echocardiography at the Hospital.

The ICAEL was established with the support of the American Society of Echocardiography, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society of Pediatric Echocardiography to provide a voluntary peer review mechanism that would ensure high quality patient care.

In addition to diagnosing heart problems, echocardiography can be used to guide or determine the next steps of treatment, monitor changes and improvement, and determine the need for additional tests.

For more information, contact the Community Relations Department at Elkhart General (574) 523-3303.