Diagnostic echocardiography in the adult

The purpose of this paper is to review basic and practical adult echocardiography. The commonly used techniques are briefly described. Normal valve characteristics, common valvular abnormalities, evaluation of cardiac chamber dimensions, pericardial space and left ventricular function are discussed. Newer aspects of echocardiography, two-dimensional scanning and pulsed Doppler techniques, are briefly reviewed. Finally, a discussion of problems and new directions in the field are presented.