Conventional M-mode echocardiography has become established as a diagnostic tool for noninvasive evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. Now the advent of two-dimensional real-time echocardiography has opened a new era of investigation. This paper describes in detail the technique of a complete two-dimensional ultrasonic examination of the heart and great vessels. Four transducer locations were commonly utilized--namely, parasternal, apical, subxiphoid, and suprasternal notch positions. The tomographic sections of the heart obtained along the long and short axes of the heart and great vessels by utilizing the above positions were validated by detailed anatomic and contrast echocardiographic techniques.