Status and potential clinical value of a transthoracic evaluation of the coronary arteries

The growing need for coronary evaluation has raised interest in non-radioactive, non-invasive monitoring systems. In particular, radiation exposure during coronary investigations has been shown to be a possible cause of an enhanced risk of secondary tumors. Literature search has indicated that transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) has been widely applied to coronary arteries up to 2003, following which the lack of adequate equipment and the increased availability of invasive diagnostics, has reduced interest in this low cost, low-risk technology. The more recent availability of newer, more sensitive machines, allows evaluation of a larger number of arterial trees, including the aorta in newborns, the prenatal aortic intima-media thickness, as well as the detection of coronary artery anomalies in the adult. Improved technology for this highly operator sensitive technique may thus predict a possible evolution toward the clinical diagnostics of coronary disease and, eventually, also of the progression/regression of disease. We sought to evaluate the present status of this seldom quoted non-invasive technology.