Three-dimensional echocardiography: historical development and current applications

Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography facilitates spatial recognition of intracardiac structures, potentially enhancing diagnostic confidence of conventional echocardiography. The accuracy of 3D images has been validated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, a detail 1.0 mm in dimension and 2 details separated by 1.0 mm can be identified from a volume-rendered 3D image. In vitro 3D volume measurements are underestimated by approximately 4.0 mL. In vivo, left ventricular volume measurements correlate highly with both cineventriculography (limits of agreement +/-18 mL for end diastole and +/-10 mL for end systole) and magnetic resonance imaging, including measurements for patients with functionally single ventricles. Studies on congenital heart lesions have shown good accuracy and good reproducibility of dynamic "surgical" reconstructions of septal defects, aortoseptal continuity, atrioventricular junction, and both left and right ventricular outflow tract morphology. Transthoracic 3D echocardiography was shown feasible in 81% to 96% of patients with congenital heart defects and provided additional information to that available from conventional echocardiography in 36% of patients, mainly in more detailed description of mitral valve morphology, aortoseptal continuity, and atrial septum. In patients with mitral valve insufficiency, 3D echocardiography was shown to be accurate in the quantification of the dynamic mechanism of mitral regurgitation and in the assessment of mitral commissures in patients with mitral stenosis. This includes not only valve tissue reconstruction but also color flow intracardiac jets. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the aortic valve were achieved in 77% of patients, with an accuracy of 90%. In conclusion, the role of 3D echocardiography, which continues to evolve, shows promise in the assessment of congenital and acquired heart disease.