Echo Glossary

The percentage of blood in the left ventricle that is pumped out with each heartbeat. Central measurement of systolic cardiac function.

Ejection fraction measured for the left ventricle specifically. The reference parameter for systolic function and heart-failure phenotyping.

A measurement of the relative shortening of the left ventricular myocardium along its long axis during systole, derived from speckle tracking on standard 2D echo loops.

The mass of the left ventricular myocardium normalized to body surface area. Normal LVMI is 95 g/m² or less in women and 115 g/m² or less in men (ASE 2015).

Left atrial volume normalized to body surface area. Normal LAVI is 34 mL/m² or less in adults (ASE / EACVI 2016). A key HFpEF diagnostic criterion.

How well the left ventricle relaxes and fills during diastole. Impaired diastolic function is the central pathophysiology of HFpEF.

The ratio of early diastolic mitral inflow velocity (E) to early diastolic mitral annular tissue velocity (e'). A non-invasive surrogate for LV filling pressure.

A simple M-mode measurement of how much the lateral tricuspid annulus moves toward the apex during systole. The most widely used parameter for right ventricular function.

The peak velocity of the tricuspid regurgitation jet, used to estimate pulmonary artery systolic pressure. The non-invasive screening parameter for pulmonary hypertension.

Ultrasound imaging of the heart, known clinically as echocardiography (or "echo"). The first-line, radiation-free test for cardiac structure and function.

The standard echocardiographic examination, performed with the ultrasound probe placed on the patient's chest. The workhorse cardiac imaging study.

A specialized echocardiogram performed with the probe positioned in the patient's esophagus. Provides superior image quality for posterior cardiac structures.

A family of ultrasound techniques that measure the velocity and direction of blood flow through the heart and great vessels. Essential for valvular assessment and diastolic function.

A frame-by-frame tracking technique that follows tissue-borne speckle patterns through the cardiac cycle to measure myocardial deformation (strain).

Echocardiography performed with intravenous ultrasound-enhancing agent to improve endocardial border definition. Used when standard images are sub-optimal.

Echocardiography performed at rest and during exercise or pharmacologic cardiovascular stress to detect inducible wall-motion abnormalities or valve-gradient changes.

Ultrasound performed by the treating clinician at the bedside, typically with a portable device, for focused clinical questions. Cardiac POCUS is a fast-growing use case.

Heart failure with LVEF ≥50%, driven by impaired diastolic function and elevated filling pressures rather than reduced systolic function. About half of all heart-failure cases.

Heart failure with LVEF ≤40%. The classical systolic heart-failure phenotype, with established disease-modifying therapy.

Heart failure with LVEF 41–49%. An intermediate phenotype acknowledged by guidelines from 2016 onwards; therapeutic strategy borrows from both HFrEF and HFpEF.

A group of infiltrative cardiomyopathies in which misfolded protein deposits in the myocardium cause progressive heart failure. Increasingly recognized and now treatable.

Narrowing of the aortic valve, most commonly from age-related calcific degeneration. The most common valvular cause of cardiac surgery and TAVR.

Elevated mean pulmonary artery pressure (≥20 mmHg by right-heart catheterization). Echocardiography is the universal screening modality.

The leading United States professional society for cardiac ultrasound, publishing the most widely used echocardiographic guidelines and reference ranges.

The cardiac-imaging branch of the European Society of Cardiology. Co-author of most major echocardiographic guidelines with ASE.