INNOVATIONS IN DIAGNOSTIC METHODS: ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY –STRAIN – WORKLOAD – BUBBLE CONTRAST

Abstract

Echocardiography was introduced as a method of investigation for different heart diseases in the 1950s. Since then, several new echocardiographic techniques have been introduced into clinical practice with the aim of expanding the possibilities of diagnostic investigation and making it possible to understand the pathophysiology of various heart diseases. In the context of evolution of cardiac investigation techniques using echocardiography, in the 1990s, the possibility of observing myocardial strain for the analysis of myocardial systolic function, added diagnostic information as well as prognostic impact to the analysis of ventricular volumetric va-riation (ejection fraction). Echocardiography performed with the addition of intravenous contrast, conducted for the first time at the end of the 1960s, takes on a new status in the analysis of heart diseases using new-generation contrast agents and ventricular analysis software dedicated to the specific physics of contrast agents. Myocardial strain analysis and echocardiography with contrast agents add information to the diagnosis of acute and chronic coronary artery disease.