Echocardiogram

My 9 year old son has a mild left ventricular enlargement.  He had another echo done yesterday and the technician put the want on his neck for quite a while.  Is this normal or routine during an echo?  They have never done this in the past.

[Marie M Gleason, M.D.]

Yes, a full pediatric echocardiographic study should involve taking images from the neck.  This is called supraternal notch imaging.  It is used to look at the aorta that carries blood to the body, as well as the branches of the lung arteries, and to see the veins that bring blood back to the heart. This is usually done in all patients who have an echocardiogram, at least once.