Potential for Using 3D Technology to Image the Origins of the Coronary Arteries

When young patients present to the echocardiography laboratory with chest pain, one consideration is that there may be an anomalous coronary artery. For this reason, it is critical that the sonographer evaluate the origins of the coronary arteries and map them with color Doppler flow to ensure that the blood is going in the correct direction. Although this may sound simple, not all sonographers have been trained to image the coronary arteries in detail and map them as far as possible. This pilot study investigated the feasibility of using volume acquisition from the parasternal short-axis and apical views. The results demonstrated that coronary artery origins can be successfully identified in adults using reconstruction of 3D volume data sets without adding significant time to the examination.