Real-time Three-Dimensional Echocardiography in Stress Testing: Bi- and Triplane Imaging for Enhanced Image Acquisition

Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography with its methodological advantage of rapid scanning of the complete left ventricle may be the optimal modality to overcome some limitations of conventional two-dimensional stress echocardiography. Matrix array transducers allow bi- or triplanar scanning or full-volume three-dimensional acquisition. Both techniques have been shown to significantly reduce scanning time without losing sensitivity and test accuracy, although here the emphasis is on bi- and triplane imaging. Several advantages of real-time three-dimensional stress testing during acquisition but also in the analysis and interpretation of echo data have been demonstrated over the last few years.