Challenges to the Clinical Integration of Transthoracic Three-Dimensional Echocardiography

Excerpt

One of the most important transformations in echocardiography over the past decade has been the widespread adoption of three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for evaluation of the mitral valve. This acceptance occurred after the introduction of the matrix array transducer, which streamlined data acquisition, allowing practical clinical acquisition times and visualization of acquired 3DE images in real-time [1]. The quality of these images is high in the majority of patients, facilitating training, interpretation and the clinical use of these images. These advantages led to the performance of multiple studies, which demonstrated improved clinical diagnosis with their use and so became part of societal guideline recommendations [2]. With increasing user-friendliness with this technology, many centers have expanded the use of 3D TEE to include the peri-procedural monitoring, assessment and guidance of a variety of transcatheter procedures [3]. …