Advantages and limitations of the different cardiac imaging techniques

Echocardiography
Advantages
  • Large availability
  • Assessment of geometry and function
  • No contraindication
  • New techniques (strain)
  • Three-dimensional echocardiography
Disadvantages
  • Need of specific expertise
  • Acoustic window dependent
Complex anatomy of the RV
Load dependency of RV
Quantitative evaluation difficult
Limited value at the early stage
Risk of under-diagnosis