How best to use echocardiography for definitive assessment. Methods of estimating valvular integrity, LV function, pulmonary pressure.

In patients with myocardial infarction, echocardiography helps predict outcome, as well as guide the selection of interventional strategies. By assessing the extent of valvular dysfunction and abnormalities in LV and RV size and function, echocardiography can help determine whether surgery is needed in patients with valvular heart disease. Both pulmonary artery pressures and LV function can be evaluated and quantified with ultrasonically derived data. Although echocardiography cannot document active infection, vegetations may appear as areas of valvular thickening. The role of echocardiography will continue to evolve as new techniques are developed.