Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) in the form of cardiac assist devices plays an increasingly important role in the treatment of end-stage cardiac disease. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) devices developed in the middle of the 20th century enabled cardiopulmonary bypass and…
Since the first human heart transplant operation in 1967, the field of advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation has continued to grow, with more than 5500 heart transplantations performed annually worldwide in each of the past few years. Advancements in…
Definition and Pathophysiology Restrictive cardiomyopathies (RCMs) are a heterogeneous group of heart muscle disorders that, in their advanced stages, are characterized by a marked increase in left ventricular (LV) myocardial stiffness. Clinically, this manifests as congestive heart failure, often in…
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an uncommon, inherited form of heart disease whose cardinal feature is unexplained left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), with or without obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). , HCM was first described by British pathologist Donald…
Classification of Dilated Cardiomyopathy Precise designation of the cardiomyopathies can be challenging. The World Health Organization (WHO) 1995 classification introduced the following broad categories of cardiomyopathy based on pathophysiology and clinical cause: dilated (DCM), hypertrophic, restrictive, arrhythmogenic RV, and unclassified.…
Focused cardiac ultrasound (FoCUS) is a readily accessible and widely used tool for the bedside diagnosis of basic cardiac pathology. Long championed by emergency room and critical care physicians, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in general, including FoCUS, is increasingly utilized by…
Structural heart disease involves pathology of the valves and various other cardiac structures. Many of these defects can be treated by image-guided transcatheter procedures, often involving rapidly evolving technologies that present new challenges and opportunities for the echocardiographer. As novel…
The use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the operating room has evolved from a simple tool to look at ventricular wall motion to a powerful diagnostic modality for examining every facet of cardiac and noncardiac surgery. Its use has improved…
Echocardiography is the most commonly used imaging modality for the evaluation of cardiac anatomy and function; it allows comprehensive evaluation of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) function, regional wall motion, valvular heart disease, and pericardial disease, as well…
Echocardiography has evolved dramatically, starting with initial M-mode and two-dimensional (2D) imaging in the 1970s and growing with the addition of spectral and color Doppler in the 1980s. Since then, the breadth and sophistication of echocardiography’s clinical applications, as detailed…