Future applications for the evaluation of ventricular function using echocardiography.

Abstract

It is almost impossible to anticipate all of the potential technologic and clinical advances in echocardiography; however, the development of new clinical techniques, new instrumentation, stress echocardiography, new contrast agents, the ability to identify tissue types, improved ultrasonics information from the circulating blood. Doppler echocardiography, three dimensional echocardiography, the ability to obtained ultrasonic information using catheters or surgical exploration and especially improved techniques for quantitating echocardiographic data, make the potential usefulness of echocardiography in assessing cardiac function, and specifically left ventricular function, very exciting. We should be able to use the advances in echocardiography to improve our understanding of normal cardiac function and pathophysiology, as well as to enhance our ability to make precise diagnoses.