[Echocardiography for the evaluation of patients with heart failure].

Echocardiography is the most widely used technique for evaluating patients with heart failure owing to its widespread use, non-invasiveness and ability to provide diagnostic, functional, hemodynamic and prognostic information. However, echocardiography is not always used appropriately as regards both clinical indications to the examination and the information gathered in the course of the examination itself. This can lead to repeated, unnecessary or unhelpful echocardiographic evaluations, that is, non-optimal consumption of available resources. The purpose of this article is to describe how to use echocardiography appropriately for assessing patients with heart failure, and to highlight the advantages and limitations of this technique.