An echocardiogram technician discovered a serious heart disease during an examination

Skilled echo technicians not only operate equipment, they are a significant part of identifying a medical problem. Their ability to recognize suspicious signs, communicate findings to the attending physicians, and act quickly in emergency situations can mean the difference between life and death for the patient.

Arij Tubasi, Chief District Technologist of Klalit in the Haifa and Western Galilee District, tells about a patient who came for a routine check-up from which he was immediately referred to the hospital where he underwent bypass surgery:

A man in his mid-sixties, came for an echocardiogram with a referral from his family doctor due to high blood pressure, without any other clinical complaints, after carefully reading the medical background and questioning the patient, I discovered that he was a diabetic patient who had recently started treatment for excess weight, high levels of lipids in the blood, and is under increased mental pressure.

I suspected that it was an ischemic disease (decreased blood supply to the heart muscle). During the echocardiogram, I detected changes in the mobility of the left ventricular wall that indeed indicate ischemic disease. I immediately turned to the cardiologist Dr. Shahada Jarais, who worked with me on shift in the cardiology department at the Zebulon Medical Center for an urgent consultation. We performed an EKG on the patient that showed evidence of ischemic disease. Dr. Jarais received the patient, explained the situation to him and referred him immediately to the hospital to complete the investigation. On the same day he underwent a diagnostic catheterization and was diagnosed with tricoronary disease (involving the three arteries of the heart) and two days later he underwent a successful bypass surgery and is now feeling well.

This was one of the cases that Arij presented in her lecture as part of an innovative and unique course for medical technologists in the field of cardiology that is taking place these days in general, with the aim of raising the level of professionalism and vigilance of the medical teams. The course focuses on training and expanding knowledge among technicians from hospitals and the community in the fields of echocardiography, stress tests, catheters, electrophysiology and medical engineering.

"High vigilance and resourcefulness of echo technicians can save lives. Due to the ability to diagnose and differentiate between an urgent case and a non-urgent case combined with proper conduct, echo technicians can also save lives," concluded Arij.