Echocardiography of valve disease

Recent technical developments have led to the combined use of imaging and Doppler modalities in cardiac diagnosis to produce a reliable and non-invasive approach to the accurate assessment of cardiac valve disease. Anatomical detail is visible on two dimensional imaging, accurate measurement and timing can be derived from M-mode studies and Doppler studies give detailed insight into cardiac valve haemodynamics. In the majority of patients valve gradients can be calculated using continuous wave Doppler techniques, while pulsed Doppler techniques (including colour flow mapping) can give accurate information about valve regurgitation. In many cases these techniques provide an adequate substitute for cardiac catheterisation and they can be repeated as often as necessary to monitor progress of disease and treatment.