Echocardiography is the single most useful diagnostic test for evaluation of patients with cardiovascular diseases because it provides reliable structural, functional, and hemodynamic information about the cardiovascular system. The major advantages of echocardiography include costs, virtual absence of contra-indications, safety and its unparalleled temporal and spatial resolution.

Two-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of global left ventricular function has been one of the most commonly used study end-points in cardiology. And many other cardiac parameters can be studied, such as valvular (dys)function.