Ultrasound Thyroid, Echo, Dopper Flashcards
What is the preferred initial imaging for thyroid disorders?
ultrasound
You can visual structures as small as (…) using an ultrasound for the thyroid
2 mm
What are the advantages to using ultrasounds?
- quick
- cheap
- non-invasive
What are indications for US on the thyroid?
- evaluate nodules (most common)
- fine needle aspiration
- monitor thyroid disease
- planning for surgery
- surveillance for thyroid CA patients
- screen for thyroid CA
What will a fluid filled cyst look like on an US?
looks almost like a balloon with clean edges
What is an advantage of US in biopsies?
you ensure that the sample you are getting is from a nodule and not surrounding tissue
What are the 3 things that make us suspicious of cancer when using US to look at the thyroid?
- hypo-echogenicity (darker than surrounding tissue)
- punctate microcalcifications
- abnormal edges
What is the most common cardiac testing?
echocardiogram
What can an echocardiogram show you/what is it used for?
- shows wall motion
- assess EF
- valves
- overall cardiac health and used for endocarditis
What are some other cardiac tests besides an echocardiogram?
- nuclear stress test
- cardiac CT
What are the different types of echocardiograms?
- transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE)
- 3D echo
- intracardiac echocardiogram (ICE)
- stress echocardiogram
- transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)
What is the most common type of echo and is noninvasive, taking place entirely outside of your body?
transthoracic echocardiogram
What echo typically shows a flat picture, but our machines can also create 3D imaging? What is this helpful for identifying?
- 3D echo
- problems with heart valves, replacement heart valves, and the heart’s lower left chamber
What echo represents a newer form of testing, when images are taken inside your heart?
intracardiac echocardiogram
Which echo is done on a treadmill and chemical?
stress echo
Which echo is described as guiding a special ultrasound probe into your mouth and down your esophagus after sedation? It allows for better imaging since the esophagus and heart sit close together and sound waves don’t need to pass through skin, muscle, or bone
transesophageal
What can interfere with a standard echo?
- obesity
- lung disease
What is the most common reason to get an echo?
chest pain
What can you use echos for?
- assessing cardiac function
- look at heart valves
- ejection fraction
- pericardial effusion
- wall motions (indirect way to look for ischemia/mi)
If you get an abnormal echo, what should you do next?
cath lab
When doing an echo, and there seems to be bubbles when the heart pumps, what could possibly be going on?
- patent foramen ovale
- if it stays open after birth, usually isn’t diagnosed until after someone has a stroke later in life
What uses high frequency sound waves to look at the speed of blood flow?
doppler
What is the most common doppler?
venous duplex, LE
The term “duplex” refers to the fact that (…) modes of US are used, the (…)
- 2 modes
- doppler and B mode
- What obtains an image of the vessel being studied?
- What is within the transducer and evaluates the velocity and direction of blood flow in the vessel?
- B-mode transducer
- Doppler probe
What are the different types of duplexes?
- arterial and venous scans (most common)
- carotid duplex
- renal duplex
What is obtained by dividing blood pressure in the ankle by blood pressure in the arm? A value of 0.9 or greater is normal
Arterial brachial index (ABI)
What are the indications for dopplers?
- most common: assess for DVT
- aneurysm
- arterial narrowing or blockage
- blood clot
- carotid occlusive disease
- renal vascular disease
- varicose veins
- venous insufficiency
When using a doppler, if a vein does not compress when pressure is applied, what most likely is going on?
clot
What is one of the biggest reasons to have clots with no reason?
cancer
What is the interpretation of ABI values?
- > 1.30 = noncompressible
- 0.91-1.30 = normal
- 0.41-0.90 = mild-to-moderate peripheral arterial disease
- 0.00-0.40 = severe peripheral arterial disease
What are 3 things to review or know about dopplers?
- vein-compression of thin walls; clot will not allow for compression
- artery-non-compression, smooth, muscle
- fast, noninvasive test, very common
