[Value and limits of two-dimensional echocardiography in acquired cardiopathies in adults].

Two-dimensional echocardiography is complementary to the unidimensional technique. It offers the possibility of examining a wide area of the heart in real time and obtaining multiple cross-sectional views from several different chest wall transducer positions. Although generally quite accurate this new technique has some limitations, i.e. with regard to resolution of an ultrasonic image. Two-dimensional echocardiography is mainly useful for evaluation of left ventricular function and congenital heart diseases, and for diagnosis of left ventricular and auricular thrombi.