ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC GUIDANCE OF STRUCTURAL HEART DISEASE
Keywords:
Interventional echocardiography, Structural heart disease, Echocardiography training, chordiography, echo,Abstract
Transcatheter therapies for structural heart disease continue to grow at a rapid pace, and echocardiography is the primary imaging modality used to support such procedures. Transesophageal echocardiographic guidance of structural heart disease proceduresmust be performed by highly skilled echocardiographers who can provide rapid, accurate, and high-quality image acquisition and interpretation in real time. Training standards are needed to ensure that interventional echocardiographers have the necessary expertise to perform this complex task. This document provides guidance on all critical aspects of training for cardiology and anesthesiology trainees and postgraduate echocardiographers who plan to specialize in interventional echocardiography. Core competencies common to all transcatheter therapies are reviewed in addition to competencies for each specific transcatheter procedure. A core principle is that the length of interventional echocardiography training or achieved procedure volumes are less important than the demonstration of procedure-specific competencies within the milestone domains of knowledge, skill, and communication.
References
Stone GW, Lindenfeld J, Abraham WT, et al. Transcatheter mitral-valverepair in patients with heart failure. N Engl J Med 2018;379:2307-18.
Carpentier A. Cardiac valve surgery–the ‘‘French correction. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1983;86:323-37.
Faletra FF, Berrebi A, Pedrazzini G, et al. 3D transesophageal echocardiography: a new imaging tool for assessment of mitral regurgitation and for guiding percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair. Prog Cardiovasc Dis 2017;60:305-21.
Nyman CB, Mackensen GB, Jelacic S, et al. Transcatheter mitral valverepair using the edge-to-edge clip. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2018;31:434-53.
