Role of echocardiography in the assessment of right heart disease: update 2013

The right heart plays a significant role in overall cardiac function, with right heart diseases shown to have similar clinical impact as left heart diseases. Despite the availability of a number of imaging modalities for the assessment of the right heart, echocardiography remains the first line imaging modality of choice based on its advantages of being safe, readily accessible and cost effective. Currently, echocardiography whether by the transthoracic or transesophageal approach, plays an important role in the diagnosis and ongoing management of patients with right heart disease. While two dimensional imaging is the mainstay of echocardiographic assessment of the right heart, the availability of more advanced echocardiographic techniques has improved our ability to assess right heart function and a range of right heart pathologies. These techniques apart from overcoming some of the inherent challenges associated with two dimensional imaging of the right heart, have also provided invaluable insights into the physiology of the right heart and pathophysiology of a range of right heart related diseases.