Our physicians have decades of experience with this common procedure, in which the heart is examined using ultrasound to measure heart function, diagnose disease of the heart valves, and clarify the cause of possibly cardiac symptoms. It is most commonly performed via an ultrasound probe on the chest (transthoracic echocardiography) but in some cases must be performed via a probe inside the throat to look at the heart from behind (transesophageal echocardiography).