Cardiac Imaging Services
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At Children’s of Alabama, we offer advanced heart imaging to help diagnose and care for congenital heart disease in patients of all ages—from infants to adults. Our imaging tools —including Echocardiography, MRI and CT use the latest technology to ensure accurate diagnosis and ongoing care. We utilize a team approach tailored to your child’s age, symptoms and medical history to determine the best imaging modality to get the information that is vital for your child’s care. Our team includes expert pediatric cardiologists, radiologists, sonographers, and specialized technicians dedicated to your care.
Echocardiography
Children’s of Alabama is IAC-certified (Intersocietal Accreditation Commission), meaning our imaging services, including echocardiograms, meet top standards for quality and safety. This certification reflects our dedication to high-quality care, ensuring your child receives excellent service from experienced professionals.
What is it?
Echocardiography uses high frequency sound waves to look at the heart’s structure and function. It is the most common imaging modality that is done in children to evaluate the heart.
Types of echocardiograms:
- Transthoracic Echo (TTE): Non-invasive test done at the bedside either as an outpatient in cardiology clinic or in the hospital; our cardiologists and sonographer team perform over 18,000 each year.
- Transesophageal Echo (TEE): A probe is gently placed in the esophagus to get close-up images of the heart. This is done under sedation and is often used during procedures or surgery. We perform over 700 each year.
- Fetal echo: Our team of fetal cardiologists perform this ultrasound before your baby’s born entirely focusing on the baby’s heart.
- Specialized Echo: Includes intravascular echo (IVUS), intracardiac, and epicardial in unique situations
What to Expect During Your Child’s Echocardiogram:
The echocardiogram takes place in a calm, dim room to help your child relax. While lying down, a technician applies gel to the chest and uses a transducer to take images of the heart from different angles. The procedure is painless, but some children may have trouble staying still throughout the test.
Cardiac CT (CTA)
What is it?
- Our state-of-the-art CT scanner uses X-rays and advanced technology to create 3D images of the heart and blood vessels. It’s a relatively quick scan that is especially helpful for seeing complex heart problems in infants, vascular rings, aortic aneurysms, and unusual blood vessel structures.
- Sometimes sedation is needed to ensure the highest quality images are obtained during this test. The team caring for your child will decide if sedation is necessary.
What to Expect During Your Child’s Cardiac CTA
Your child will lie comfortably on the CT table. A special dye (contrast) will be injected into your child’s IV that helps us see the inside of the heart and blood vessels. The table will move slowly through the scanner as the camera takes detailed pictures of the heart. Our child life team is available to help your child be comfortable and entertained during the scan.
Cardiac MRI and MRA
What is it?
- Cardiac MRI uses powerful magnets and computers to create detailed pictures of your heart—without any radiation. It helps us see the heart’s structure, measure blood flow, and check how well the heart is working. Since it’s a longer test, sedation may be needed to make sure we have the highest quality images and information from this test.
What to Expect During Your Child’s Cardiac MRI
Your child will lie on a comfortable table that slides into the MRI scanner. For non-sedated scans, we provide movies and entertainment to help your child relax during the study.
