We describe a case of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with mid-left ventricular obstruction and apical aneurysm containing thrombi where live/real time three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography provided incremental value over two-dimensional echocardiography in assessing the findings.

We report a case of a right atrial thrombus traversing a patent foramen ovale into the left atrium, where three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography provided considerable incremental value over two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in its assessment. As well as allowing us to better spatially characterize the thrombus, three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography provided a more quantitative assessment through estimation of total thrombus burden.

We describe a case of cardiac lymphoma where live/real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography provided additional information compared to two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography regarding the extent of tumor infiltration. In addition, it gave a quantitative assessment of the tumor burden by providing its volume.

We describe the use of a nonstandard left infraclavicular approach in making the diagnosis of an infected valved conduit with two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. The patient was an adult with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia who had undergone multiple surgical repair procedures. The initial diagnosis of infective endocarditis was made by transesophageal echocardiography. Both techniques demonstrated a single, large vegetation in the conduit. Live/real time three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography, on the other hand, provided further information by demonstrating several additional vegetations in the conduit and more comprehensively assessed their size by enabling measurement of their azimuthal dimensions and volumes. The patient was treated with antibiotics with complete resolution of the vegetations.