Cor Vasa 2004, 45(9):423-427
Clinical applications of intracardiac echocardiography
- Klinika kardiologie, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny, Praha, Česká republika
Intracardiac echocardiography broadens the spectrum of echocardiographic techniques. Novel sector echocardiographic catheters allow (after their introduction into the right atrium) high-quality imaging of cardiac structures to a depth of 16 cm, including pulse and continuous wave Doppler and/or color Doppler. The main advantage of this method is that it allows to monitor complex cardiac interventions. These include predominantly catheter-based closures of atrial septal defects. Another area of interest is catheter ablation of complex arrhythmic substrates such as pulmonary vein isolation for treatment of atrial fibrillation or ablation of some ventricular tachycardias.
Keywords: Intracardiac echocardiography; Atrial septal defect; Atrial fibrillation; Interventional cardiology; Catheter ablation
Published: September 1, 2004 Show citation