Watson Clinic LLP- Main Clinic

Cardiology Department

2nd Floor

1600 Lakeland Hills Blvd.

Monday - Friday

7:00am to 5:00 pm

By Appointment Only

The Watson Clinic Echo Lab was established in 1984. In 1985 Helena Mahias, MD joined the Watson Clinic Cardiology department bringing with her a strong background in Echocardiography. Dr. Mahias soon became the Medical Director of the Echo Lab developing the standards of the lab and sharing her knowledge, expertise and passion for echocardiography. Today the Echo Lab is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL) and is under the direction of John Canto, M.D.. Kim Midea, RCS, the Echo Lab Supervisor, has implemented a Quality Assurance program that involves the echo reading physicians and technical staff. The Echo Lab utilizes three echo machines manufactured by Philips and performs approximately 400 studies per month.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Echocardiography is a non-invasive test that has become one of the standard diagnostic tools in cardiology. The cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and sonographers work closely together to achieve high quality diagnostic testing.

An echocardiogram is a safe and painless diagnostic procedure, which uses high-frequency sound waves to take moving, real time pictures of the heart. The sound waves are directed to the heart from a small, hand-held device called a transducer that sends and receives these signals.

The heart walls and valves reflect part of the sound waves back to the transducer where they are used to produce pictures of the heart. These images appear in black and white or color on a monitor screen.

The pictures obtained during this procedure are recorded on videotape or stored digitally. The songraphers and cardiologist are able to obtain measurements of the four chambers of the heart and study the appearance and motion of the heart valves. Also, they are able to evaluate the contractile function of the heart. Measurements taken from these pictures are very helpful to your physician in determining how well your heart or your child’s heart is functioning.

Doppler echocardiography testing may also be done at the same time as the echocardiogram. This allows the sonographer to measure the direction of blood flow through the heart valves and to assess for valvular abnormalities. In newborns this allows the cardiologist to assess for congenital heart defects and valvular abnormalities.

To improve the quality of the picture, a harmless, odorless and water soluble “gel” is applied to the chest area; it may feel cool and moist and will be wiped off thoroughly at the completion of the exam.

No special preparation is necessary.

Children having and Echocardiogram may want to bring something comforting with them like a teddy bear or small toy. Parents may want to bring a bottle or sippy cup for their child.

An Echocardiogram can last up to 1 hour depending upon how easily the information is obtained

Vincent "Tony" Delostia, RDCS, Echo Technician

Kimberly Midea, RCS, Echo Supervisor

Amanda Owens, Echo Technician

Guelly Perez, Echo Technician

Jeffrey Younginer, RDCS, Echo Technician

Robert Buccino, MD

John Canto, MD, Medical Director

Jorge Gonzalez, MD

Neal Kavesh, MD

Helena Mahias, MD

Joseph Massaro, DO

Sean O’Rourke, MD

Patrick Reddy, MD

Jonathan Reich, MD, Pediatric Cardiologist

Christopher Simek, MD