Quantitative Echocardiographic Evaluation of Cardiac Function

Echocardiographic imaging has made major contributions to the noninvasive diagnosis of cardiac structure and function. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has extended the clinical utility of cardiac ultrasound to the operating room and the bedside of the critically ill patient by providing high quality two-dimensional images and Doppler data. Continued improvements in computer technology have also enabled the introduction of novel techniques to improve the quantitative analysis of cardiac function. This discussion will review traditional Doppler assessment of cardiac function by TEE, and the new technologies of automated border detection (ABD) and tissue Doppler (TD) echocardiography to assess regional and global ventricular function.