The second edition of this superbly illustrated book equips practitioners with all the information that they will require in order to perform echocardiography appropriately and to interpret findings correctly. After clear exposition of fundamentals of the examination techniquevia both the transthoracic and the transesophageal approach, the functional anatomy of all normal and pathologic thoracic structures as observed on echocardiography is presented in detail. A wide range of basic and advanced applications of echocardiography in the emergency, perioperative, and intensive care settings are then described. A final supplementary section considers further applications of ultrasound in the ICU, such as in patients with respiratory failure, trauma, or venous thrombosis. This edition has been extensively revised and updated and includes entirely new chapters on various techniques and applications. It will be a tremendous aid to current best practice for all intensivists, emergency physicians, and anesthesiologists who intend to use echocardiography and ultrasound for diagnosis and guidance of optimal management in the critically ill.