[Detection of left ventricular endocardial border with tissue harmonic imaging].
BACKGROUND
Ultrasonic wave propagation in human tissues is not linear. As a consequence, harmonic waves, whose frequency is a multiple (harmonic) of the emitted frequency, are generated. Tissue Harmonic Imaging (THI) processes only the second harmonic frequency in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal. The study was aimed at investigating the impact of THI on the detection of the Left Ventricular (LV) endocardial border. Attention was paid to determine which LV walls were analysed more clearly with THI rather than with conventional Fundamental Frequency Imaging (FFI).


METHODS
We compared the FFI and the THI visualization of the 16 LV segments and of the 6 LV walls in 30 consecutive patients by scoring the images as bad, sufficient or good. The equipment used was a GE Vingmed System Five (Orten, Norway).


RESULTS
Images were good in 85% of segments explored with THI, whereas FFI provided good images in 47% of segments (p<0.001). From the apical window, visualization of the apex, lateral wall and anterior wall significantly improved with THI; using the parasternal approach, imaging of posterior wall was definitely better with THI than with FFI.


CONCLUSIONS
THI enhances both endocardial visualization and global image quality. Tech-nical development, however, increases the diagnostic possibilities of echocardiography but does not substitute the operator's experience.
Carerj
S
S
Dipartimento Clinico Sperimentale di Medicina e Farmacologia, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Italy.
Andò
G
G
Di Rosa
S
S
Zito
C
C
Pugliatti
P
P
Polito
C
C
Luzza
F
F
Granata
A
A
Oreto
G
G
Arrigo
F
F
D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D004699:Endocardium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged