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INFORMATION FOR

Echocardiography

The Yale Echo Laboratory is comprised of 9 board-certified cardiologists and over 17 registered cardiac sonographers performing transthoracic, stress, and transesophageal echocardiography using state-of-the-art equipment capable of 2D and 3D imaging, intracavitary contrast, and strain imaging. The lab actively supports rapidly growing programs within the section, including percutaneous aortic valve insertions, atrial fibrillation ablation, and left ventricular assist devices. The lab has been digital for over a decade and has image management software that enables database search and off-line processing of 3D and strain images.

The echo lab strives to promote all three aspects of the academic mission - clinical service, research and education. Clinical service is provided to Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), the West Haven Veterans Administration Medical Center (WHVAMC), and various outpatient facilities in the surrounding community.

Research by echo lab faculty covers a wide range of activities, including the Yale Echocardiographic Core Lab, which is part of the Yale Cardiovascular Research Group. Other clinical echo research includes clinical trials, collaborative multi-modality imaging studies, and clinical outcomes studies.

Education for fellows is a primary mission for all faculty and staff within the Echo Lab. The volume and breadth of the lab offers more than sufficient training in the basics of echo for all fellows, with outstanding opportunities for advanced training for interested fellows. With the extent of research and clinical activities, we strive to inspire a new generation of academicians.


Yale Echocardiographic Core Lab

Part of Yale Cardiovascular Research Group (YCRG), Yale Echocardiographic Core Lab (YECL) provides echocardiographic core lab services for clinical trials involving drug or device therapies. Currently, there are several clinical trials overseen by YECL:
  • Parachute Trials (Cardiokinetix)
  • VIRGO
  • HELIX-HF (Biocardia) 

Quality

Harlan Krumholz and Robert McNamara investigate quality and outcomes on a national scale. Locally, Robert McNamara and Rachel Lampert, from the Electrophysiology group, are conducting a study identifying potential candidates for intracardiac cardioverter defibrillators (ICD’s) with a notation on the echo report of patients with left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 35%.

Three-dimensional Echocardiography

A pioneer in using and assessing 3D technology, our faculty have brought valuable expertise to ongoing institutional efforts in assessment of myocardial function using of 3D strain as well as novel approaches to the assessment and treatment of valvular heart disease.

Support for Other Research

The Echo Lab provides support for other research efforts within the institution. Programs include those investigating hereditary hemorrhagic telangectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu), Gauchers Disease, and first-pass radionucleotide validation. The Echo Lab also supports multiple efforts in therapeutic trials for eligibility and outcomes.
Yale Echo Lab services are performed at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), West Haven Veterans Administration Medical Center (WHVAMC) and several out-patient facilities at Yale Physician’s Building (YPB), Branford, Guilford and Newington VAMC. Collectively, we perform over 15,000 transthoracic studies, 700 transesophageal echoes, and 2,000 stress studies per year. Contrast echocardiography is actively incorporated in our echo protocol for technically limited studies. Three-dimensional (3D) transthoracic echocardiography is used routinely for the assessment of left ventricular function. In addition, 3D TEE allows more defined assessment of patients with valvular heart disease - particularly for preoperative and intraoperative assessment of mitral valve prolapse, transcutaneous aortic valve implantation (TAVI), atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale closure, and prosthetic valve disease. The lab provides exercise and dobutamine stress echo services for the evaluation of ischemic heart disease at YNHH, WHVAMC and outpatient sites. To support our percutaneous aortic valve program, dobutamine aortic stenosis studies are performed in patients with low gradient severe aortic stenosis.

Yale Echo Lab has incorporated digital echocardiography for over a decade and is transitioning to Fuji Synapse, which not only allows traditional viewing, reporting, and archiving of echocardiographic studies but also will enable multimodality comparison and post-processing of 3D images and strain assessment. Our luminary relationships with Fuji Cardiovascular Imaging and TomTec promise to provide excellent opportunities to advance existing efforts in improving cardiovascular image processing.

Faculty