Comparative Study between Perfusion Changes and Positive Findings on Coronary Flow Reserve.

Background: Functional assessment of coronary artery obstruction is used in cardiology practice to correlate anatomic obstructions with flow decrease. Among such assessments, the study of the coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR) has become the most widely used.

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between FFR and findings of ischemia obtained by noninvasive methods including stress echocardiography and nuclear medicine and the presence of critical coronary artery obstruction.

Occurrence of myocardial ischemia in patients undergoing pharmacologic stress echocardiography: the impact of type-d personality.

Background: Type-D personality has been identified as a risk factor for general and cardiac mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography (DASE) is an established method for non-invasive evaluation of myocardial ischemia in patients with CAD. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of type-D personality and its association with the occurrence of myocardial ischemia as assessed by DASE.

Non invasive assessment of left ventricular filling pressure and remodeling after acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) dilation after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is an important determinant of prognosis. The ratio of early mitral inflow velocity (E) and peak early diastolic annular velocity (e') provides the best single index for noninvasive detection of acute elevation of LV filling pressure.

Objective: To assess whether E/e' ratio predicts LV remodeling after properly treated AMI compared with traditional clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic data.

Association between inflammatory markers and left atrial enlargement in patients on hemodialysis.

Background: In individuals with concurrent chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), the association between left atrial volume (LAV) and serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) is shown.

Objective: Verify the presence of associations between systemic inflammation and LA dilation in patients on hemodialysis (HD) without clinically evident CVD.

Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study of a population on HD (> 3 months), which excluded patients with acute or chronic inflammatory diseases (infections, malignancies, autoimmune diseases) hemodynamic instability, use of anti-inflammatory drugs, hyperparathyroidism, arrhythmias, mitral valve disease and prior cardiovascular (CV) events.

A comparison of cabergoline and bromocriptine on the risk of valvular heart disease in patients with prolactinomas.

Therapy with dopamine agonists has been associated with valvular heart disease (VHD) in Parkinson's disease, raising concern about the safety of these drugs. In hyperprolactinemic patients, the studies have mainly focused on the cardiac effects of cabergoline (CBG), with little information on bromocriptine (BRC). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of VHD in patients with prolactinomas treated with CBG and BRC.

Intracranial embolism characteristics in PFO patients: a comparison between positive and negative PFO by transesophageal echocardiography: the rule of nine.

Background And Purpose: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) can be diagnosed by contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler (cTCD), but no definitive criteria exist to correlate the results obtained from cTCD with diagnoses of PFO obtained by contrast-enhanced transesophageal echocardiography (cTEE). The aim of the present study was to analyze markers in the positive RLS by cTCD that confirm the PFO by cTEE.

Methods: Twenty-six stroke patients who had previously submitted to cTEE, 16 with PFO (PFO group) and 10 without PFO (no-PFO group), were evaluated for three markers based on a positive cTCD test.

Transcranial Doppler for patent foramen ovale screening: is there a good correlation with transesophageal echocardiography?

Unlabelled: Right-to-left shunt (RLS) can be identified by contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler (cTCD) in patent foramen ovale (PFO) patients.

Aim: To evaluate cTCD for PFO screening comparing it to cTEE.

Method: 45 previous cTCD performed for PFO diagnosis and correlated its findings with cTEE.

Evolutive echocardiographic study of the structural and functional heart alterations in obese individuals after bariatric surgery.

Objective: To evaluate with Doppler echocardiography the reversibility of structural and hemodynamic changes in obeses after bariatric surgery.

Methods: Twenty-three patients (19 women = 82.6%) were studied.

[Hepatopulmonary syndrome in liver transplantation candidates].

Background: Hepatopulmonary syndrome is an important clinical problem associated with chronic liver disease. Liver transplantation can result in complete resolution of the arterial hypoxemia associated with this syndrome, even in its most severe presentation.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of hepatopulmonary syndrome in adult liver transplant candidates.

An analysis of electrocardiographic criteria for determining left ventricular hypertrophy.

Objective: To determine the most sensitive criterion for the detection of left ventricular hypertrophy according to echocardiographically defined left ventricular mass.

Methods: The Sokolow-Lyon voltage, Sokolow-Lyon-Rappaport, Cornell voltage duration product, White-Bock, and Romhilt-Estes point scoring criteria were compared with left ventricular mass index, corrected for body surface, obtained from the echocardiograms of 306 outpatients (176 females, 130 males), of all age groups.

Results: The Cornell voltage duration product criteria index had the greatest sensitivity in women (54.