title: Recent advances in echocardiography.
abstract: Important recent developments have occurred in echocardiography that are already being used clinically. Portable ultrasound devices that weigh less than five pounds are capable of performing a complete bedside echo exam. An intracardiac echocardiographic catheter has recently been introduced that can be placed intracardiac via a vein and navigated within right heart chambers to obtain detailed anatomical landmarks that guide catheter based interventional procedures such as intracardiac ablation and closure of atrial septal defects and patent foramen ovale. Tissue Doppler imaging is finding its role in detecting mechanical asynchrony in patients with congestive heart failure who might benefit from biventricular pacing. The availability of real-time 3D echocardiography has for the first time made assessment of complex cardiac anatomy possible. This review discusses each of these new developments and their potential impact on the practice of echocardiography and cardiology in general.
authors.affiliation: Cardiac Non-Invasive Laboratory, Division of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA. tasneem.naqvi@cshs.org
authors.forename: Tasneem Z
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Naqvi
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000628:therapy; D003287:Contrast Media; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends*; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000295:instrumentation; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional; D006801:Humans; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media