On
January 2015, the new ASE/EACVI guidelines for chamber quantification have been published on
JASE www.onlinejase.com.
This
important document (the 2005 release of the guidelines received around 5000 citations by December 2013) is the result of a joint effort made by experts from both ASE and EACVI.
New guidelines includes many important changes compared to the 2005 release: more evidences, new reference values, the introduction of new techniques (2D speckle tracking and 3D eco), new concepts about the partition values, etc.
In particular, in the recommendations for the quantitation of left and right ventricular size and function, it is stated that “In laboratories with experience in 3DE, 3D measurements and reporting of volumes is recommended when feasible depending on image quality”.
On one hand, this statement acknowledge the fact that 3D echo is ready for the clinical routine in patients with adequate image quality, on the other hand, it pushes echo labs to move to implement the 3D technique in their routine workflow.
