Imaging of all three coronary arteries by transthoracic echocardiography. an illustrated guide

Table 1 Planes used for transthoracic examination of coronary arteries. Best results should be expected when views typed in bold are chosen

LCA	LM/proximal LAD	Middle LAD	Distal LAD
	mod. PSAX	mod. PSAX	AP3Ch
	mod. PLAX	mod. PLAX	mod AP5Ch
	mod AP5Ch	mod A5PCh
	mod AP3Ch	mod AP3Ch
	mod SubLAX	mod SubLAX
Cx	Proximal Cx	Middle Cx	Distal Cx
	mod. PSAX	mod. PSAX	?
	mod. PLAX	mod. PLAX
	mod AP5Ch	mod AP5Ch
RCA	Proximal RCA	Middle RCA	Distal RCA (RPD)*
	mod. PSAX	mod SubSAX	mod. AP4Ch
	mod. PLAX		mod AP2Ch
	mod AP5Ch		mod SubLAX

Abbreviations used in the table: LCA – left coronary artery LM – left main coronary artery LAD – left anterior descending coronary artery Cx – left circumflex coronary artery RCA – right coronary artery RPD* – right posterior descending (usually a distal branch of the RCA, but may arise from the Cx when the left coronary artery is dominant) mod – modified PSAX – parasternal short axis view PSLAX – parasternal long axis view AP5Ch – apical 5-chamber view AP3Ch – apical 3-chamber view AP2Ch – apical 2-chamber view SubSAX – subcostal short axis view SubLAX – subcostal long axis view

ISSN: 1476-7120