ABSTRACT
Introduction Certainly, more than two decades of successful diagnostic interventional cardiology have been experienced in catheterization laboratories throughout the world. Imaging for such procedures has been based on two-dimensional (2D) views, often in a singular plane, be it fluoroscopy, angiography, or echocardiography. Hence, one might maintain that three-dimensional (3D) imaging would provide little additional information to aid the interventionalist. On the other hand, one might argue that additional information might be very important for the more difficult or unusual cases. Additionally, in as much as interventional catheterization occurs in a 3D space, the associated imaging should provide a 3D perspective for the interventional cardiologist. Hence, 3D imaging might reduce the time of the procedure, the time for fluoroscopy, and the occurrence of unexpected deleterious outcomes. Furthermore, 3D imaging might provide important additional information to determine the outcomes of the interventional procedure, either for the individual or for large population studies.
