Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents summarize and evaluate all currently available evidence on a particular issue with the aim of assisting physicians in selecting the best management strategy for an individual patient suffering from a given condition, taking into account the impact on outcome, as well as the risk/benefit ratio of particular diagnostic or therapeutic means. Guidelines are no substitutes for textbooks. The legal implications of medical guidelines have been discussed previously.

In view of the European Association of Echocardiography (EAE) mission statement “To promote excellence in clinical diagnosis, research, technical development, and education in cardiovascular ultrasound in Europe” and the increasing demand for standardization and quality control, the EAE have established recommendations and guidelines for standardization of echocardiography performance, data acquisition (images, measurements and morphologic descriptors), digital storage and reporting of echocardiographic studies. The aim of these recommendations is to provide a European consensus document on the minimum acceptable requirements for the clinical practice of echocardiography today and thus improve the quality and consistency of echocardiographic practice in Europe.

To determine the usefulness of contrast echocardiography in the diagnosis of aortic dissection (AD) and in the assessment of findings necessary for adequate patient management. Conventional and contrast-enhanced transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) were performed in 128 consecutive patients with clinically suspected acute AD. Results were validated independently against intraoperative findings in 45 patients and computed tomography information in 83. Sensitivity and specificity of conventional TTE increased after contrast enhancement from 73.7 to 86.8% (P< 0.005) and 71.2 to 90.4% (P < 0.05), respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of enhanced TTE were similar to conventional TOE in ascending aorta (93.3 vs. 95.6% and 97.6 vs. 96.4%, respectively) and in the arch (88.4 vs. 93.0% and 95.3 vs. 98.82%, respectively). Contrast-enhanced TOE permitted the location of non-visualized entry tear in seven cases (10.6%), helped to correctly identify the true lumen in six (9.1%), and diagnosed retrograde dissection in nine (13.6%). Contrast enhancement substantially improves TTE in the diagnosis of AD and should be considered as the initial imaging modality in the emergency setting. Contrast enhancement also has significant value for obtaining critical morphological and haemokinetic information by TOE useful for adequate patient management.

Objective. Knowledge and quantification of the microcirculation are very important for estimating the status of an organ. Real‐time contrast‐enhanced sonography assesses microvascular tissue perfusion. This technique has been proposed as innocuous; however, data from experimental animals (rats) have shown renal interstitial microhemorrhage after the procedure. Therefore, we developed a porcine model to explore potential renal damage that in situ exposure might cause. Methods. Kidneys from 8 anesthetized pigs were surgically exposed. An ultrasound contrast agent (sulfur hexafluoride) was infused through the femoral vein in a continuous perfusion. Destructive ultrasonic flashes were applied with a high mechanical index over only 1 kidney (the contralateral kidney was used as a control). Blinded histologic and laboratory analyses were performed to reveal any lesions. Results. Histologic analysis of the kidney samples showed no evidence of renal damage. Biochemical parameters that could represent renal tissue damage and hemoglobin levels did not change after the microbubble‐ultrasound interaction. Conclusions. The ultrasound contrast agent‐ultrasound interaction in anesthetized pig kidneys under the output level for the imaging visualization and microbubble destruction used did not cause tissue damage. Our results suggest that this procedure could be used in humans for regular analysis of the kidney microcirculation with minimal risk of tissue damage.