[The significance and development of quantitative study of the myocardium with echocardiography]

Quantification, standardisation, and reproducibilty are three of the constraints facing echocardiography. New MRI and CT techniques allow some of these constraints to be circumvented. Tissue Doppler, using a quantitative and very physiological approach in theory will enable echocardiographic evaluation to advance. A low reproducibilty for Doppler tools limits routine widespread use. This problem should in future be avoided by using a more recent and more exhaustive approach called 2D-strain, based on processing conventional images with a technique called 'speckle tracking'. These tools are still new, but without doubt they herald a new method which is both more pathophysiological and quantitative.