TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Anatomical Variants and Ultrasound Artifacts A1 - Grichnik, Katherine A1 - Pabich, Wendy L. A1 - Raja, Atif Y. A2 - Mathew, Joseph P. A2 - Nicoara, Alina A2 - Ayoub, Chakib M. A2 - Swaminathan, Madhav PY - 2018 T2 - Clinical Manual and Review of Transesophageal Echocardiography, 3e AB - Anatomical variants are those variations in normal anatomy that could be misinterpreted as pathological conditions. Many anatomical variants occur as remnants of embryological development and fetal circulation, commonly visualized in the atria. Anatomical variants can be differentiated from artifacts (or errors in interpretation) as they persist despite sonographic changes in transducer frequency, gain, compression, or depth; and are seen in multiple image planes. Ultrasound artifacts usually occur due to a violation of the assumptions inherent to all ultrasound systems. Fundamentally, ultrasound imaging assumes that sound travels in a straight line, travels directly back from a reflector, and travels at exactly 1540 m/s through soft tissue. Additionally, it is assumed that the ultrasound beam is very thin, reflections are entirely from structures within the main axis of the beam, and the intensity of reflections is related only to the tissue characteristics of the reflector.1 Artifacts can be distinguished from anatomical variants as they tend to cross known anatomical planes and boundaries and usually disappear with alternative imaging planes or sensitivity changes such as changes to the Doppler baseline or the pulse repetition frequency. Thus it is vital to be knowledgeable about the common anatomical variations and ultrasound imaging artifacts to ensure accurate echocardiographic interpretation and to avoid unnecessary interventions.2 SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1171725508 ER -