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© 2005 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
J Ultrasound Med 24:231-233 • 0278-4297

Case Series

Usefulness of Real-Time 3-Dimensional Echocardiography in the Assessment of Infective Endocarditis

Initial Experience

Leopoldo Pérez de Isla, MD, José Zamorano, MD, Gracieta Malangatana, MD, Carlos Almería, MD, José Luis Rodrigo, MD, Pedro Cordeiro, MD and Carlos Macaya, MD

Instituto Cardiovascular, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to José Zamorano, MD, Laboratorio de Ecocardiografía, Instituto Cardiovascular, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, C/ Professor Martín Lagos S/N, 28040 Madrid, Spain. E-mail: jlzamorano{at}vodafone.es

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.

Key Words: echocardiography • endocarditis • 3-dimensional echocardiography

Abbreviations: 3D, 3-dimensional

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Copyright © 2005 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.