Echocardiographic assessment of pulmonary hypertension: standard operating procedure.

Patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension (PH) should be evaluated using a multimodality approach to ensure that they receive a correct diagnosis. The series of investigations required includes clinical evaluation, noninvasive imaging techniques and right heart catheterisation (considered to be the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of PH). Current guidelines recommend that a detailed echocardiographic assessment is performed in all patients with suspected PH. In this review we summarise a protocol adopted by the National Pulmonary Hypertension Centres of UK and Ireland and approved by the British Society of Echocardiography for the evaluation of these patients. The views and measurements described are recommended for diagnosis, assisting in prognosis and providing a noninvasive means of following disease progression or response to therapy.

Echocardiography in the emergency assessment of acute aortic syndromes.

Acute aortic syndrome (AAS) is a collective term for several life-threatening acute aortic conditions: aortic dissection, intramural haematoma (IMH), penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer, and traumatic transection. Mortality from acute ascending aortic (type A) dissection increases rapidly immediately after presentation, reaching 1-2% per hour for the first 48 h. Early surgical intervention is recommended for type A aortic dissection and has been shown to improve outcome. Transthoracic echocardiography is an extremely valuable, often overlooked, clinical tool in diagnosing and assessing AAS in the emergency setting. Although diagnostic sensitivity is suboptimal, it is very useful in assessing potential high risk features or complications, such as pericardial effusion, and diagnosing potential differential conditions. A negative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), however, does not exclude AAS. In patients with a high risk of type A dissection or IMH (identified clinically or by TTE), the safest and most rapid 'gold standard' investigation is transoesophageal echocardiography, ideally performed with the cardiac surgical team standing by. This is of particular importance in the haemodynamically unstable patient. Transoesophageal echocardiography, helical CT, and MRI have similar diagnostic accuracy and, when there is diagnostic uncertainty or no indication for immediate intervention, should be used according to clinical need, local availability, and expertise.