Background: The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of a new miniaturized echocardiographic system (MS) to perform bedside echocardiography in initial outpatient cardiology consultations, in addition to physical examination.
Methods: One hundred eighty-nine patients referred for initial cardiology outpatient consultations at two tertiary hospitals in two countries were studied. Each patient was submitted to physical examination followed by MS assessment.
Introduction And Objectives: The development of left ventricular dysfunction after mitral valve replacement is a common problem in patients with chronic severe mitral regurgitation. Assessment of myocardial deformation enables myocardial contractility to be accurately estimated. Our aim was to compare the value of the preoperative strain and strain rate derived by either speckle-tracking echocardiography or tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) for predicting the medium-term decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) following surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Segmental analysis in mitral prolapse is important to decide the chances of valvular repair. Multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is the only echocardiographic tool validated for this aim hitherto. The aim of the study was to assess if segmental analysis can be performed with transthoracic real-time 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography as accurately as with TEE, hence representing a valid alternative to TEE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Myocardial performance index (MPI) is usually measured with pulsed wave Doppler (PWD). Our aim was to assess the degree of agreement between PWD and a method based on tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).
Methods And Results: Seventy-five patients with prior myocardial infarction and 20 healthy subjects underwent measurement of time intervals and MPI with PWD and pulsed TDI at septal and lateral sides of mitral annulus.
Background And Aim Of The Study: The study aim was to analyze the mid-term prognosis of infective endocarditis (IE) in patients managed with medical therapy during the in-hospital phase and who had a good initial outcome. Comparison was made with the prognosis of patients treated surgically during this period.
Methods: A total of 151 patients diagnosed with IE was studied, and in-hospital outcome, clinical characteristics and mid-term follow up data were analyzed.
Objectives: We sought to evaluate the prognostic significance of left ventricular (LV) transient ischemic dilation (TID) for patients with a positive stress echocardiogram (SE).
Background: TID during SE has been related to the presence of extensive coronary artery disease, but its long-term prognostic implications have not been reported.
Methods: In all, 99 consecutive patients with a positive SE comprised the study group.
Aims: Mitral regurgitation (MR) following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) confers an adverse prognosis during long-term follow-up. There are no studies evaluating the influence of pre-AMI MR in the short- and long-term prognosis of such patients. Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of pre-AMI MR in the short- and long-term follow-up of patients who suffered a first AMI and to assess its influence on left ventricular haemodynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim Of The Study: Higher morbidity and mortality have been attributed to patients suffering endocarditis but with negative blood cultures. The study aim was to determine whether, in the present era of routine echocardiography, patients with negative-culture endocarditis had a worse short- and long-term outcome, and whether outcomes in patients with true negative and aborted positive blood cultures were different.
Methods: When endocarditis was clinically suspected, an early (<24 h) echocardiographic examination was performed in all patients, regardless of blood culture results.
Background And Objective: Contrast echocardiography has been recently introduced as a new technique for evaluating myocardial perfusion in a qualitative basis. The objective of this study was to test whether a visual subjective evaluation of myocardial perfusion by myocardial contrast echocardiography adequately matches the data obtained with an off-line quantification of myocardial perfusion.
Methods: Sixty-one myocardial segments were evaluated by myocardial contrast echocardiography with Ultra-harmonic and Multiframe Triggering in 11 patients 3-7 days after an anterior myocardial infarction, using SH-U 563A (Levovistâ, Schering AG, Berlin, Germany) as contrast agent.
Background And Objectives: In addition to the myocardium, the microvasculature may be also damaged in acute myocardial infarction. The aim was to evaluate the capability of myocardial contrast echocardiography in the detection of microvasculature damage after myocardial infarction.
Patients And Methods: Twelve patients with recent acute myocardial infarction and five control subjects with normal coronary arteries and without history of myocardial infarction were studied.
Introduction And Objectives: Chronic liver disease increases the susceptibility to bacterial infections and infective endocarditis. Our aim was to determine the clinical and microbiological features and the prognosis in patients with chronic liver disease who also had infective endocarditis.
Patients And Method: One hundred and seventy-four consecutive inpatients at our institution were recruited and followed.
Unlabelled: The development of new contrast agents and new imaging methods has lead to an emerging field of applications for myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) in patients suffering from chronic ischemic heart disease. Echo contrast allows the assessment of myocardial perfusion (MP) by imaging the coronary microcirculation. Several echocardiographic modalities are available, the main difference between them being the acoustic power needed to perform the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim Of The Study: High morbidity and mortality are attributed to patients with culture-negative endocarditis. The main reason for negative blood culture in infectious endocarditis (IE) is administration of antibiotics before sample withdrawal. The study aim was to determine any difference in prognosis between patients with 'aborted' culture-negative endocarditis (A-CNE) and those with true culture-negative endocarditis (T-CNE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Cardiovasc Imaging
December 2002
Aim: Interobserver variability is an important limitation of the stress echocardiography and depends on the echocardiographer training. Our aim was to evaluate if the use of contrast agents during dipyridamole stress echocardiography would improve the agreement between an experienced and a non-experienced observer in stress echo and therefore if contrast would affect the learning period of dypyridamole stress echo.
Methods And Results: Two independent observers without knowledge of any patient data interpreted all stress studies.
Background And Aims Of The Study: Left ventricular (LV) contraction is slowed in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). Although the possible role of LV systolic function abnormalities in the assessment of AS severity has been evaluated, current echocardiographic techniques cannot offer precise quantification of LV motion velocity. The study aim was to evaluate an automated segmental motion analysis (ASMA) system to assess AS severity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim Of The Study: The incidence and severity of certain infections appear to be increased in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). The study aim was to evaluate the effect of DM on short- and long-term outcome in patients with active infective endocarditis (IE).
Methods: A total of 151 patients with IE was included and followed up for a mean of 3.