Evaluation of Cardiac Function by Echocardiography

Echocardiography has recently become one of the most important techniques in clinical cardiology. The major advantage of this method is its noninvasive nature enabling us to apply it under a widespread variety of clinical conditions. In the late 1960s, when research and clinical application of echo cardiography were started, and during the first decade investigations were mainly focused on the morphology of the valves and the chambers of the heart. The introduction of two-dimensional echocardiography was a major breakthrough in visualizing different portions of the heart. How- ever, the poor resolution of the first devices provided only little qualitative information. With the introduction of phased array 2-D-echo-devices yielding better results and the application of computer techniques for the processing of M-mode and two-dimensional echo cardiograms, a great amount of qualitative information has become available to describe not only the morphology, but also the dynamic function of the heart in a noninvasive manner. This volume summarizes the lectures held at the International Symposium on Echocardiography, Hamburg, September 1978, endeavoring to review the current state of knowledge with regard to echo cardiography in the experimental and clinical setting. We herewith thank all lecturers, who have contributed to the publication and the Pharma-Schwarz Company which enabled us to organize this meeting by a generous subsidy.