A new impetus has emerged for a realistic step-by-step presentation of the transthoracic echocardiography examination.Wider availability, increased portability, and expanding applications have issued a new mandate for practical teaching aids for both the cardiologist and noncardiologist.
Echocardiography, or cardiac ultrasonography, has an established role in the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected and established heart disease. Miniaturization of this technology has given new meaning to the word “stethos-scope”—the ability to visualize cardiac structure and function, a feat far more clinically useful than the traditional auscultation of heart sounds. The arrival of such handheld and pocket-sized devices means that medical students, residents, fellows, and noncardiologists need the basic skills to perform and interpret at least a focused echocardiography examination. Such skills should lead to a deeper understanding of cardiac structure and function at the patient’s bedside—an approach espoused by the American Society of Echocardiography (in competent hands). This can translate into improved point-of-care diagnosis, less delays to diagnosis, optimal referrals, and reduced costs.
Echocardiography is the sonographer’s scalpel—a tool that greatly enhances our understanding of in vivo cardiac anatomy, physiology, and hemodynamics. As such, it can greatly complement medical education and allied health training.
With these goals in mind, Echocardiography Pocket Guide: The Transthoracic Examination presents a highly illustrated step-by-step introduction to the basics of the transthoracic examination. The typical sonographer scans the heart using his or her right hand while seated on the patient’s right. Such views are shown throughout to demonstrate the examination.Views from the patient’s left side are also presented, as many sonographers prefer scanning from this perspective. Views using the standard anatomical position, with the patient erect and facing the examiner, are included to maintain harmony with traditional anatomy education and other cardiac imaging techniques, such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
This guide’s primary focus is the normal examination. However, it makes frequent references to salient pathologic findings that can be seen, and should be sought, on each view as the examination proceeds. In this pursuit, tabular summaries and panoramic illustrations of normal and abnormal findings of cardiac structure and function follow the presentation of each view. This reflects the systematic thought process that is executed by expert sonographers as the examination proceeds. Echocardiographic findings typically require confirmation using multiple views, and this three-dimensional perspective is emphasized. The major focus is the adult examination, but additional image projections that are used in the pediatric examination for evaluating congenital heart disease are sprinkled throughout. A Reference Guide of normal values for the quantification of cardiac chamber dimensions appears at the end of this volume.
Contents
Part 1. Echocardiography basics
1. Introduction
2. Echocardiographic anatomy,windows, and imaging planes
3. Instrumentation and basic principles of echocardiography
4. Blood flow hemodynamics, cardiac mechanics, and doppler echocardiography
Part 2. The transthoracic echocardiography examination
5. Orientation, maneuvers, and the examination protocol
6. Left parasternal views
7. Apical views
8. Subcostal views
9. Suprasternal notch views
10. Right parasternal long-axis view
11. Echocardiography in the age of ultra-portability
Part 3. Reference guide
References
Index
Echocardiography, or cardiac ultrasonography, has an established role in the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected and established heart disease. Miniaturization of this technology has given new meaning to the word “stethos-scope”—the ability to visualize cardiac structure and function, a feat far more clinically useful than the traditional auscultation of heart sounds. The arrival of such handheld and pocket-sized devices means that medical students, residents, fellows, and noncardiologists need the basic skills to perform and interpret at least a focused echocardiography examination. Such skills should lead to a deeper understanding of cardiac structure and function at the patient’s bedside—an approach espoused by the American Society of Echocardiography (in competent hands). This can translate into improved point-of-care diagnosis, less delays to diagnosis, optimal referrals, and reduced costs.
Echocardiography is the sonographer’s scalpel—a tool that greatly enhances our understanding of in vivo cardiac anatomy, physiology, and hemodynamics. As such, it can greatly complement medical education and allied health training.
With these goals in mind, Echocardiography Pocket Guide: The Transthoracic Examination presents a highly illustrated step-by-step introduction to the basics of the transthoracic examination. The typical sonographer scans the heart using his or her right hand while seated on the patient’s right. Such views are shown throughout to demonstrate the examination.Views from the patient’s left side are also presented, as many sonographers prefer scanning from this perspective. Views using the standard anatomical position, with the patient erect and facing the examiner, are included to maintain harmony with traditional anatomy education and other cardiac imaging techniques, such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
This guide’s primary focus is the normal examination. However, it makes frequent references to salient pathologic findings that can be seen, and should be sought, on each view as the examination proceeds. In this pursuit, tabular summaries and panoramic illustrations of normal and abnormal findings of cardiac structure and function follow the presentation of each view. This reflects the systematic thought process that is executed by expert sonographers as the examination proceeds. Echocardiographic findings typically require confirmation using multiple views, and this three-dimensional perspective is emphasized. The major focus is the adult examination, but additional image projections that are used in the pediatric examination for evaluating congenital heart disease are sprinkled throughout. A Reference Guide of normal values for the quantification of cardiac chamber dimensions appears at the end of this volume.
Contents
Part 1. Echocardiography basics
1. Introduction
2. Echocardiographic anatomy,windows, and imaging planes
3. Instrumentation and basic principles of echocardiography
4. Blood flow hemodynamics, cardiac mechanics, and doppler echocardiography
Part 2. The transthoracic echocardiography examination
5. Orientation, maneuvers, and the examination protocol
6. Left parasternal views
7. Apical views
8. Subcostal views
9. Suprasternal notch views
10. Right parasternal long-axis view
11. Echocardiography in the age of ultra-portability
Part 3. Reference guide
References
Index
Book Details
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 1 edition (March 1, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0763779350
- ISBN-13: 978-0763779351
- Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
List Price: $70.95