Noticed Red, Blue And Orange Colour In Echo Cardiogram. What Does These Colours Mean?

Posted on Tue, 2 Oct 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 3 Oct 2012 Answered on

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I just had an echocardiogram. there was a lot of red, and some blue and orange. Do these colors mean anything. On the pictures of my heart that were in color, at least 1/2 my heart was red.

Answered by Dr. Anil Grover (7 hours later)

Hi there,
Thanks for writing in.
I am a qualified and certified cardiologist. I read your letter with diligence.
Colors in echocardiography mean (by default) Red depicts blood coming towards transducer and blue going away from the transducer (it can be set in opposite manner), the density of a color reflects the velocity of flow and its setting is displayed on the printout and that is also adjustable. So, it is the choice of the echocardiographer which colors he/she wants to see or show. Yes, mosaic or magenta color represents turbulence in flow of blood. Therefore, what the echocardiography & Doppler report says matters not the colors on accompanying photograph. Any proportion of red and/or blue in a perfectly normal echo cardiograph photo can be produced in perfectly normal heart. I hope that answers your question. Good Luck
With best wishes.
Dr Anil Grover,
Cardiologist
M.B.;B.S, M.D. (Internal Medicine) D.M.(Cardiology)
http://www/ WWW.WWWW.WW

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar