Apical Views in Echocardiography

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the anatomical structures, transducer techniques, and clinical abnormalities associated with the Apical views in echocardiography.

Left lateral decubitus

The preferred patient positioning for Apical views because gravity displaces the cardiac apex closer to the chest wall.

Foreshortening

An imaging artifact where the heart appears round and the apex is poorly visualized, usually caused by placing the transducer too high.

Apical 4 Chamber (A4C)

A view where the heart is transected from apex to base, showing the ventricles at the top of the image and the atria at the bottom.

Interatrial Septum (IAS)

The anatomical structure that separates the Left and Right atrium.

Interventricular Septum (IVS)

Also known as the Septal wall, this structure separates the Right and Left Ventricles.

Thrombi

Blood clots that may be evaluated in the apex of the Left Ventricle during an Apical 4 chamber view.

Apical 5 Chamber

A variation of the Apical 4 view created by tilting the transducer anteriorly and superiorly toward the right shoulder to visualize the LVOT and AOV.

LVOT

Left Ventricular Outflow Tract; visualized in Apical 5, 3, and Long Axis views.

Apical 2 Chamber

A view obtained by rotating the index approximately $60^{\circ}$ counterclockwise from the Apical 4 view, primarily visualizing the LA, LV, and MV.

LA appendage

A structure extending from the LA, often considered a common place for blood clots to form due to blood pooling.

Apical 3 Chamber

Also known as the Apical Long Axis View; it visualizes the LV, LVOT, LA, MV, and proximal Aorta.

Moderator band

A thick, echo-dense muscle bundle in the RV that connects the anterior papillary muscle to the IVS and carries the right bundle branch.

Crux cordis

The center of the heart formed by the primum interatrial septum, the atrioventricular septum, the inlet interventricular septum, the septal leaflet of the tricuspid valve, and the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve.

Ebstein's anomaly

A condition where the tricuspid valve sits too low, allowing the backflow of blood.

Atrial septal aneurysm

A congenital malformation of the septum primum layer of the interatrial septum, sometimes caused by differences in interatrial pressure.

Subaortic membrane

A fibrous tissue that blocks blood flow from the Left Ventricle to the Aorta; it causes LVOT obstruction.

RWMA

Regional Wall Motion Abnormalities; detected by observing abnormal movement in specific segments of the heart walls.

True Aneurysm

A wall abnormality characterized by a wide neck.

Pseudoaneurysm

A wall abnormality characterized by a narrow neck, which carries a higher risk of rupture.

Ventriclar Septal Defect (VSD)

A hole in the septal wall that allows oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix; it can be congenital or occur post-MI.