Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) first came onto the scene in the early 1970s.<sup>31 Feigenbaum H. Echocardiography: The Echocardiographic Examination  Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger (1994).  68-133

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 91 Side C.D., Gosling R.G. Non-surgical assessment of cardiac function Nature 1971 ;  232 : 335-336  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 95 Tajik A.J., Seward J.B., Hagier D.J. , e al. Two-dimensional real-time ultrasonic imaging of the heart and great vessels: Technique, image orientation, structure identification, and validation Mayo Clin Proc 1978 ;  53 : 271-303

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> As a diagnostic modality, it was a new method that allowed the heart to be viewed with better image quality than conventional transthoracic echocardiography. For the first time, the images obtained could be viewed with less attenuation because of shadowing from structures, such as the lung, bone, and soft tissue. The facility to perform Doppler presented the clinician with the ability to functionally assess the hemodynamics and flow disorders in greater detail.<sup>31 Feigenbaum H. Echocardiography: The Echocardiographic Examination  Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger (1994).  68-133

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> As much as this advance changed the face of echocardiography, it is still essentially a two-dimensional mode of imaging and is limited in portraying the three-dimensional human heart anatomically. Every facet of the heart, its pathology, and function are three-dimensional in nature. Two-dimensional echocardiography is limited in providing a clear uninhibited look at the heart in all views. It was left to the examiner to mentally form a three-dimensional picture of the heart from all the data obtained from the two-dimensional images. A method was needed that could visualize the heart in a three-dimensional format.

An attempt to develop three-dimensional imaging was first undertaken in the early 1970s.<sup>29 Dekker D.L., Piziaii R.L., Dong E. A system for ultrasonically imaging the human heart in three dimensions Comput Biomed Res 1974 ;  7 : 544-553  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 69 Matsumoto M., Matsuo H., Kitabatake A. , e al. Three-dimensional echocardiograms and two-dimensional echocardiographic images at desired planes by a computerized system Ultrasound Med Biol 1977 ;  3 : 163-178  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> In its infancy, three-dimensional echocardiography was used mainly to measure left ventricular volumes using manual tracing methods from multiple cross-sectional images.<sup>3 Ariet M., Geiser E.A., Lupkiewicz S.M. , e al. Evaluation of a three-dimensional reconstruction to compute left ventricular volume and mass Am J Cardiol 1984 ;  54 : 415-420  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 63 Linker D.T., Mortiz W.E., Pearlman A.S. A new three-dimensional echocardiographic method of right ventricular volume measurement: In vitro validation J Am Coll Cardiol 1986 ;  8 : 101-106  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Three-dimensional echocardiography was laborious and time-consuming initially, but soon it was realized that the potential of three-dimensional echocardiography was an opportunity waiting to be harnessed.<sup>49 Kanojia A., Kasliwal R.R. Three-dimensional echocardiography: From the realm of research to clinical reality [review] J Assoc Physicians India 1996 ;  44 : 649-652

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 81 Pandian N.G., Roelandt J., Nanda N.C. , e al. Dynamic three-dimensional echocardiography: Methods and clinical potential Echocardiography 1994 ;  11 : 237-259  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 85 Roelandt J.R.T.C., Yao J., Kasprzak K.D. Three-dimensional echocardiography Cur Opinion Cardiol 1998 ;  13 : 386-396  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Although three-dimensional echocardiography can be performed by way of transthoracic and transesophageal methods, the improved image resolution obtained from TEE makes it much more useful for three-dimensional image reconstruction, the quality of which is dependent on the raw two-dimensional images.<sup>11 Binder T., Globits S., Zangeneh M. , e al. Value of three-dimensional echocardiography as an adjunct to conventional transesophageal echocardiography Cardiology 1996 ;  87 : 335-342  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Today, three-dimensional TEE is emerging as an extremely useful imaging tool with a multitude of clinical applications.<sup>82 Pandian N.G., Sugeng L., Vogel M. , e al. Three-dimensional echocardiography: The future in cardiac imaging ACC Learning Center Highlights 1994 ; 6-12

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 94 Sugeng L., Cao Q.L., Delabays A. , e al. Three-dimensional echocardiography: An emerging clinical tool Cardiology 1994 ;  11 : 23-27

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 101 Wang X.F., Li Z.A., Cheng T.O. , e al. Clinical application of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography Am Heart J 1994 ;  128 : 380-388  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 104 Yao J., Cao Q.L., Marx G. , e al. Three-dimensional echocardiography: Current development and future directions J Med Ultrasound 1996 ;  4 : 11-19

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 105 Yao J., Cao Q.L., Masani N. , e al. Three-dimensional echocardiographic estimation of infarct mass based on quantification of dysfunctional left ventricular mass Circulation 1997 ;  96 : 1660-1666

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 109 Yao J., Roelandt J.R. Three-dimensional echocardiography: A new era in cardiac imaging Cardiac Imaging—Current Medical Literature; pilot issue 1997 ; 2-10

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup>