Echocardiography in valvular heart disease.

Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography continues to play a predominant role in the evaluation of patients with valvular heart disease. Current efforts in the research arena have been focused on improving the accuracy of techniques, as well as in further describing the shortcomings. Accurate quantitation of valvular regurgitation continues to be a major stumbling block. However, more sophisticated techniques are being successfully applied to obviate some of the limitations of color flow imaging. Transesophageal echocardiography has provided a new window and clarity of resolution that greatly facilitates evaluation of valvular heart disease in cases where the transthoracic approach is limited, particularly in patients with prosthetic valves.