For the Patient

What is the problem and what is known about it? Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) involve the heart or blood vessels. More than 17 million people died from CVD in 2008 and each year, heart disease kills more Americans than cancer. Cardiovascular disease remains the biggest cause of deaths in the world. However, during the last 20 years, CVDs have declined in many rich countries but have increased at an alarmingly fast rate in poorer and developing countries. In fact, three times as many deaths from CVD now occur in developing countries as compared with developed countries. The economic and social costs of CVDs is great, particularly because many developing nations still have poor health care facilities and high rates of povertyrelated diseases such as malnutrition and infectious diseases. Echocardiography is a procedure that can help doctors accurately explore heart disease. It gives the doctor information about the heart’s structure and function; the information can help diagnose or manage heart disease.