Book excerpt: Accurately interpret cardiac ultrasound images and effectively manage the patient with this comprehensive atlas and text Color Atlas & Synopsis of Echocardiography provides you with an encyclopedic, case-based overview of this essential imaging modality. Featuring more than 500 of state-of-the-art cardiac ultrasound images, this unmatched resource examines both the optimal use and limitations of echocardiography in a variety of clinical situations, with an emphasis on the very latest techniques. Unlike traditional echocardiography texts, this Atlas is focused on the role of echocardiography in patient diagnosis and management, as well as in reviewing the indications, contraindications, and interpretation of echocardiographic images. Authored by expert contributors, each topic begins with a clinical case presentation (patient story) and also includes evidence ratings from the combined ACC/AHA/ASE guidelines and full references. Topics include: Echocardiographic methods used in everyday practice for the diagnosis and management of cardiac patients, from Transthoracic, Transesophageal and Stress Echocardiography to Hand-Carried Ultrasound (HCU) The role of echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease The importance of echocardiography, including Doppler echo, as a method to assess patients with valvular heart disease Echocardiographic assessment of the patient with new onset dyspnea, known or suspected heart failure, and a range of cardiomyopathies The use of echo in pericardial disease Various diseases of the aorta The use of echocardiography in the patient with a stroke or TIA Echocardiographic evaluation of intracardiac masses The role of echocardiography in managing patients with atrial dysrhythmias The expanding role of echocardiography in guiding interventional procedures