Intracardiac Echocardiography - Technology and Clinical Role

Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography (TTE, TEE) are established standard approaches to diagnose a variety of cardiac diseases. Both techniques are limited, however, particularly in some clinical scenarios. Therefore, intracardiac echocardiography has gained acceptance, eg to guide certain interventional procedures such as catheter positioning and ablation. Up to now, all commercially available intraluminal ultrasonic devices were restricted to two-dimensional (2D) imaging. We discuss our first experience with and potential uses of a new ultrasonic transducer-tipped catheter device with unlimited echocardiographic capabilities. J Clin Basic Cardiol 2002; 5: 133–7.