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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Evaluation of Left Ventricular Structure and Function using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
Usefulness of real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography in the assessment of infective endocarditis: initial
Leopoldo Pérez de Isla1, José Zamorano, Gracieta Malangatana
1Laboratorio de Ecocardiografía, Instituto Cardiovascular, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
Objective:
Our aim was to provide an initial description of the usefulness of real-time 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography when evaluating patients with infective endocarditis.
Methods:
For this purpose, we describe 3 cases in which the usefulness of real-time 3D echocardiography is shown.
Results:
Better definition of the morphologic characteristics of the vegetation and valvular apparatus was achieved with real-time 3D echocardiography. Furthermore, the information provided by the real-time 3D echocardiogram to the surgical team was accurate and direct because it was not based on detailed verbal information for performing a 3D mental reconstruction but was a simple image similar to what would be found in the operating room. In all cases, the information provided by the real-time 3D echocardiography was confirmed during surgery.
Conclusions:
Real-time 3D echocardiography is an important tool for aiding diagnosis or for fine tuning a suspected diagnosis when traditional echocardiography is not completely clear for both medical and surgical decision making.
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