title: [Echocardiography in the study of left ventricular function].
abstract: Ultrasound provides anatomical (wall thickness, diameter) and functional (thickening of the wall, ventricular ejection, ventricular filling) information about the left ventricle. The reliability and reproducibility of these measurements have been improved by the development of mono and bidimensional techniques, so that, today, ultrasound is the method of choice for the investigation and surveillance of left ventricular function, provided it is of good quality. Apart from the indirect information about left ventricular function drawn from mitral or aortic traces, the echocardiogram has proven to be a reproducible method for estimation of the thickness of the ventricular wall, the ventricular diameters and the left ventricular muscle mass. Whatever the geometry of the left ventricle, the ventricular volume is assessed most accurately by bidimensional ultrasound.
mesh_terms: D002306:Cardiac Volume; D003971:Diastole; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D013599:Systole
vernacular_title: Apport de l'échocardiographie dans l'étude de la fonction ventriculaire gauche.