Three-Dimensional Trans-oesophageal Echocardiography in Diagnosis and Transcatheter Treatment of Congenital Cardiac Defects

Three-dimensional echocardiography is an imaging modality that, in recent years, has overcome most of its previous technical limitations and allows 3D reconstruction of cardiac structures in real time, without the need for multi-beat acquisition. Applied to miniaturized matrix-array trans-esophageal transducers, it is particularly useful for guidance of percutaneous procedures, especially in case of complex or multi-fenestrated defects and when multiple devices are used. The author illustrates some guidelines to obtain good three-dimensional imaging with such modality, giving advice for image acquisition, settings, and regulations.