This chapter will give you just enough background to really understand what echocardiography is about. Since we know that you don’t want to become a physicist, we will stick to what really matters. You will also learn in this chapter how to use the scanner and what you can do to optimize your images.

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This chapter will teach you hands-on wisdom of echocardiography: echo windows and views as well as practical tips that no one will ever teach you during on-site courses and that you also won’t find in books. This chapter is rich in demos that show you how to scan.

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Echo anatomy can be hard to grasp. Upon completion of this chapter, you will know exactly where and how to find the different cardiac structures and how to quantify the size and function of the heart chambers.

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This chapter deals with the difficult topic of diastolic dysfunction – we’ll try to make it easy for you. Take a look at the section “a simple approach” and you will see how diastology can help you in your daily clinical practice.

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Left ventricular function is not the only thing to look at in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. In this chapter you will see how echo can help you understand symptoms, prognosis and treatment options for such patients.

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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart disease, and athlete’s heart have very similar features. In this chapter you will learn more about these features and find out how you can distinguish between them. You will also learn how echo can help you assess the risk for sudden cardiac death.

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This is a rare disease, indeed. However, as an echocardiographer you should be able to recognize it. In this chapter, we will teach you some useful tips and tricks for making the right diagnosis.

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Have you ever struggled with the assessment of regional wall motion abnormalities? Can you differentiate ischemic from dilated cardiomyopathy? In this chapter you will find lots of examples and background knowledge that will help you to excel.

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Is aortic stenosis present? Is it severe? Is surgery required? Are new treatment options an alternative? This chapter will answer your questions.

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In this chapter you will learn to understand the hemodynamics of “volume overload” and learn more about our integrative approach towards assessing aortic regurgitation. You will see more than others by following our step-by-step approach.

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This chapter deals with the different features of rheumatic heart disease. Among other things, you will find out about the pitfalls when trying to quantify the severity of mitral stenosis.

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This chapter will provide you with in-depth knowledge that will help you determine the severity of mitral regurgitation. You will learn which factors determine whether a patient should undergo valve surgery and what the mechanism of mitral regurgitation is. A special section will be dedicated to practical issues such as how to view the specific portions of the mitral valve and how to find the origin of a jet.

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We like the tricuspid valve and you should like it, too. It is often overlooked even though there are many conditions that can affect the tricuspid valve. As a matter of fact, tricuspid regurgitation is common! In this chapter you will learn more about tricuspid valve pathologies, how to image them, and what the sequels are.

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Prosthetic valves can be a blessing if they work and a curse if they don’t. Can you tell from the echo which valve was implanted? Does the patient have prosthetic valve dysfunction? What are the pitfalls and limitations of echo in this patient group? This chapter will answer these and other questions.

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Endocarditis is a truly challenging disease. It can be difficult to make the right diagnosis. In this chapter we will provide numerous examples that will help you to see how endocardits can present itself and what other factors you need to consider. This chapter will cover native valve-, prosthetic valve-, pacemaker-, and non-bacterial endocarditis.

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Early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension is crucial for the prognosis of patients with pulmonary hypertension. Echocardiography is the primary diagnostic tool to do so. In this chapter we will show you how to detect pulmonary hypertension and what to do if direct measurement of pulmonary pressure using the tricuspid valve signal is not possible.

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The aorta can also be visualized with echo! In this chapter we will show you how. Diseases such as aortic aneurysms, dissection, aortic syndromes, and congenital abnormalities of the aorta will be covered.

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Many problems may affect the pericardium – some of them are life-threatening. Just think of tamponade. The emergency echo tips in this chapter might save you next time you are on call at night. So you’d better get started!

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In this chapter you will learn how echocardiography can support you in recognizing different tumors and masses. We will teach you some simple mnemonics that will help you memorize the most common problems once you’re back with your patients.

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In this chapter you will find out more about the most common congenital defects in an adult population. We are dealing with shunt lesions such as atrial and ventricular septal defects and ductus arteriosus. Other congenital defects are covered in other chapters (disease of the aorta, aortic valve disease, tricuspid valve, etc.)

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In this chapter you will learn how do detect dyssynchrony, why it is important for the development of heart failure and what Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) is. A separate lecture deals with the optimization of CRT therapy

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Here you will learn why contrast echocardiography is so important and where you can use it. We will focus both on right- and left heart contrast studies and show you which agents are available. Here you will learn how to detect a patent foramen ovale, a thrombus in the apex and much much more. Again you will see lots of examples.

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Three-dimensional echocardiography is a hot topic. In this chapter we will explain how it works and in which ways you can use it. We will discuss topics such as full volume- and multibeat acquisition, multiplane imaging and live 3D. Both transthoracic and transesophageal applications of 3D echo are discussed. This chapter is full of spectacular images.