ADVANCES IN NONINVASIVE ASSESSMENT OF VALVULAR HEART-DISEASE

Echocardiography continues to be the noninvasive method of choice in t he evaluation of valvular heart disease. Important recent developments include clinical validation of approaches used to quantify valvular r egurgitation, in particular the proximal flow convergence zone method; use of transesophageal imaging to monitor and evaluate surgical or pe rcutaneous interventions in valvular heart disease, in particular mitr al valve repair; insight into flow-related stretch of the orifice area in aortic stenosis; and validation of nuclear magnetic resonance imag ing in small series for quantification of left-sided valvular stenotic and regurgitant lesions.