Clinical application of 3-dimensional echocardiography--a 3-year single center experience

3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is a novel and rapidly evolving echocardiographic technique. Theoretically, 3DE should be helpful in difficult cases when 2-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) cannot deliver required information due to complex spatial relationships in diseased heart of inability to obtain a desired cross-sectional view. Accurate quantification is another potential benefit of 3DE.

In this study we present our 3-year experience in 3DE applied to selected clinical population. Retrospective analysis of our database provided data of 204 3DE studies performed with TomTec Echoscan 3.1 using rotational device from transthoracic or transesophageal window.

A total of 474 3DE acquisitions were performed. The main indications for 3DE were: Assessment of left ventricular function (51);--valvular heart disease (47), assessment of thoracic aorta (36), congenital anomalies (36) and cardiac masses (22). Quality of resulting 3D image was graded as 0--bad, 1--satisfactory, 2--good, 3--demo. Average quality of reconstruction was 2.1 +/- 0.8, with 73% of interpretable (score 2-3) studies. Compared to 2DE, additional morphologic or quantitative information was obtained in 47% of patients, including: left ventricular function assessment (41%); valvular heart disease (40%); assessment of descending aorta assessment (31%); congenital anomalies (64%); and cardiac masses (64%).

3DE can be incorporated into the routine diagnostic pathway with a high feasibility rate. 3DE is a valuable tool in clinically indicated cases by providing additional qualitative or quantitative information in 47% of cases.