Novice transesophageal echocardiographic readers may benefit from using 3D color-coded parametric maps when assessing preoperative mitral valve images, particularly for complex cases, researchers found. Novice readers improved their sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy with the use of 3D parametric maps, with particular improvements in interpreting P2 and P3 scallop involvement, Wendy Tsang, MD, from the University of Chicago Medical Center, and colleagues reported. Readers of intermediate skills, however, showed no improvement with 3D parametric maps compared with 2D images, except for interpreting P2 and P3 scallop morphology, according to the study in the August issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.
