[Echocardiography as an imaging procedure in pediatrics].

Since the introduction of echocardiography into paediatrics by Lundström at the end of the 1960's, this noninvasive technique has come a long way. The original m-mode technique was followed by sector-echocardiography, which permits two-dimensional visualization of the heart. By this means cardiac and great vessel anatomy can be studied in real time. Even complex congenital heart defects can be analyzed and, in contrast to angiocardiography, the atrioventricular valves are well visualized. The addition of doppler-echocardiography enables one to examine direction and velocity of blood flow, which helps to reveal shunts within the heart and between the great vessels as to detect valvular stenosis and insufficiency. The principal advantage of echocardiography lies in this ability to rapidly diagnose congenital and acquired heart disease without harm to the patient. In addition, size and dynamics of the cardiac chambers and the great vessels including valves can be adequately studied.