Echocardiographic assessment of cardiac function in infants and children

Echocardiography has become an established technique for the assessment of cardiac function in infants and children. M-mode echocardiography provides measurements of left ventricular diameter and wall thickness and allows calculation of their rate of change during the cardiac cycle. Left and right ventricular systolic time intervals may be determined from recordings of aortic and pulmonary valve motion. Two-dimensional echocardiographic images may be utilized for the determination of left and right ventricular volume and ejection fraction. Compared with other noninvasive imaging methods, echocardiography is a rapid, safe and inexpensive technique. Moreover, future developments are likely to include improved image processing and computer analysis of two-dimensional images.