Echocardiography. The role of this noninvasive test in the geriatric population.

Echocardiography assumes a major role in the diagnosis and evaluation of cardiovascular disease in the older population. Available diagnostic modalities are briefly reviewed and their role in identifying disease entities common in a geriatric population is discussed. The prognostic implications of echocardiographic findings of mitral annular calcification and aortic sclerosis are reviewed, as are the use of echo and Doppler techniques in the assessment of congestive heart failure. Particular emphasis is placed on the evaluation of ischemic heart disease using stress echocardiography, the diagnosis and assessment of degenerative aortic valve disease, and the role of transesophageal echo in the management of atrial fibrillation and stroke.