Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography for prosthetic valve endocarditis: initial experience.
Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography is a relatively new technology with rapidly growing potential applications. Prosthetic valve endocarditis is still a challenging diagnosis despite improvements in image qualities obtained by both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms. The purpose of this article is to present 4 cases of suggested prosthetic valve endocarditis, in which real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography was performed, and to discuss the potential use of real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography for this application.
Kort
Smadar
S
Division of Cardiology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8171, USA. skort@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003199:Computer Systems; D019560:Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity