Conducting a Cardiac Ultrasound Examination

Abstract

This chapter will serve as a guide to getting started in the conduct of a two-dimensional (2D) chest wall echocardiogram. Standard views and how to obtain them will be covered while specific controls and optimization of the images will addressed in a subsequent chapter. Echocardiography is a noninvasive procedure which illustrates the anatomy of the heart, including valves, chamber size, wall motion, masses, pericardial fluid and many other findings. Doppler echocardiography assesses the severity of valvular regurgitation, gradients across normal and stenotic valves or between cardiac chambers and the detection of intracardiac shunts.