Clinical impact of echo-Doppler in the management of heart disease.

The management of patients with cardiovascular disease requires a comprehensive evaluation of both morphological and pathophysiological abnormalities associated with the disease process. To this end, a diagnostic technique that is noninvasive, painless, biologically safe, readily repeatable, economical and highly accurate would be ideal. The echo-Doppler modality satisfies these criteria and in so doing has emerged the diagnostic procedure of choice in many instances. While echocardiography supplies detailed anatomical information on cardiovascular structures, the Doppler mode define the associated haemodynamic profiles. Used in complement, they provide a complete pathophysiological picture in the majority of congenital and acquired cardiac diseases, aiding both diagnostic and therapeutic management decisions.