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Rao. Vessel Plus 2022;6:24 Vessel Plus
DOI: 10.20517/2574-1209.2021.91

Review Open Access

Echocardiography: an overview - part I

P. Syamasundar Rao

Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas at Houston, McGovern Medical School and Children's Memorial Hermann
Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Correspondence to: P. Syamasundar Rao, MD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas at Houston, McGovern Medical
School and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, 6410 Fannin Street, Suite #0425, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
E-mail: P.Syamasundar.Rao@uth.tmc.edu

How to cite this article: Rao PS. Echocardiography: an overview - part I. Vessel Plus 2022;6:24.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2574-1209.2021.91

Received: 1 Jul 2021 First Decision: 13 Sep 2021 Revised: 15 Sep 2021 Accepted: 29 Nov 2021 Published: 29 Apr 2022

Academic Editors: Frank W. Sellke, Francesco Nappi Copy Editor: Xi-Jun Chen Production Editor: Xi-Jun Chen

Abstract
This review describes principles of echocardiography and Doppler, outlines the techniques of echo-Doppler
studies, presents methods of assessment of pressure in the pulmonary artery, reviews methodology for appraisal of
ventricular function, and demonstrates the usefulness of echo in evaluating multiple neonatal issues including
distressed neonate, infant of a diabetic mother, tracheo-esophageal fistula, Down syndrome, and cardiomegaly.

Keywords: M-mode echo, two-dimensional echo, pulsed wave Doppler, continuous wave Doppler, color flow
mapping, pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular function, right ventricular function, distressed neonate, infant of
a diabetic mother, cardiomegaly, Down syndrome

INTRODUCTION
Echocardiography was introduced into the pediatric cardiac practice in the early 1970s. The addition of
two-dimensional (2D) echo and Doppler techniques and other refinements have advanced the utility of the
echo-Doppler studies such that these studies have replaced invasive catheterization and angiographic
studies in diagnosing congenital and acquired cardiac disease in children. Carefully performed echo-
Doppler studies are usually sufficient to make clinical care decisions regarding the treatment of even
complex congenital cardiac defects (CCDs) with the rare need for magnetic resonance imaging, computed
tomography, or cine-angiography.

© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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