Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography: a review of the development of the technology and its clinical application.

Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) is a new imaging technique that can provide accurate, important, and additional information concerning cardiovascular morphology, pathology, and function. This article will review the development of the technology of RT3DE and its clinical application. As the technique continues to evolve, RT3DE is bound to play an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with various forms of cardiovascular disease.