Intraoperative three-dimensional versus two-dimensional echocardiography for left ventricular assessment.

Background: Three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) technology is now widely used intraoperatively in cardiac surgery. Left ventricular (LV) measurements with 3D transthoracic echocardiography correlate better with cardiac magnetic resonance measurements compared with traditional two-dimensional (2D) transthoracic echocardiography. In this study, we compared intraoperative 3D TEE against 2D TEE regarding quantitative indices of LV function.

Mechanisms and predictors of mitral regurgitation after high-risk myocardial infarction.

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) has been associated with adverse outcomes after myocardial infarction (MI). Without structural valve disease, functional MR has been related to left ventricular (LV) remodeling and geometric deformation of the mitral apparatus. The aims of this study were to elucidate the mechanistic components of MR after high-risk MI and to identify predictors of MR progression during follow-up.

Timing and magnitude of regional right ventricular function: a speckle tracking-derived strain study of normal subjects and patients with right ventricular dysfunction.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the timing and magnitude of global and regional right ventricular (RV) function by means of speckle tracking-derived strain in normal subjects and patients with RV dysfunction.

Methods: Peak longitudinal systolic strain (PLSS) and time to PLSS in 6 RV segments (the basal, mid, and apical segments of the RV free wall and septum) were obtained in 100 healthy volunteers and 76 patients with RV dysfunction by tracking speckles inside the myocardium using grayscale images. Global PLSS and time to PLSS were based on the average of the 6 regional values.

Prognostic implications of left ventricular mass and geometry following myocardial infarction: the VALIANT (VALsartan In Acute myocardial iNfarcTion) Echocardiographic Study.

Objectives: This study sought to understand prognostic implications of increased baseline left ventricular (LV) mass and geometric patterns in a high risk acute myocardial infarction.

Background: The LV hypertrophy and alterations in LV geometry are associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events.

Methods: Quantitative echocardiographic analyses were performed at baseline in 603 patients from the VALIANT (VALsartan In Acute myocardial iNfarcTion) echocardiographic study.

Left atrial remodelling in patients with myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction, or both: the VALIANT Echo study.

Aims: To assess the relationship between left atrial (LA) size and outcome after high-risk myocardial infarction (MI) and to study dynamic changes in LA size during long-term follow-up.

Methods And Results: The VALIANT Echocardiography study prospectively enrolled 610 patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, heart failure (HF), or both following MI. We assessed LA volume indexed to body surface area (LAVi) at baseline, 1 month, and 20 months after MI.

The relationship between renal function and cardiac structure, function, and prognosis after myocardial infarction: the VALIANT Echo Study.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether alterations in cardiac structure or function contribute to the increased risk associated with renal impairment after myocardial infarction (MI).

Background: Renal impairment is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes after MI.

Methods: Echocardiography was performed on 603 patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, heart failure (HF), or both after MI.

Ischemic mitral regurgitation: mechanisms and echocardiographic classification.

Chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is a common complication of myocardial infarction and severely affects cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Multiple pathophysiologic mechanisms, such as left ventricular (LV) remodeling and dysfunction, annular dilation/dysfunction, and mechanical dyssynchrony, are involved in generating IMR, each of them having different weight. However, the prerequisite to initially creating regurgitation is the presence of local or global LV remodeling that alters the geometrical relationship between the ventricle and valve apparatus.

Rest and stress echocardiographic predictors of prognosis in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and functional mitral regurgitation.

We evaluate, in 37 consecutive patients (mean age 67+/-9 years) with functional mitral regurgitation (FMR), several rest and stress echocardiographic predictors of outcome. Rest end-systolic volume, peak stress end-diastolic volume and effective regurgitant orifice were independent predictors of death at 25 months follow-up. Therefore, rest and stress echocardiographic evaluation of patients with FMR provides strong prognostic information.

Mitral regurgitation in myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction, or both: prognostic significance and relation to ventricular size and function.

Aims: Mitral regurgitation (MR) confers independent risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction. We utilized data from the VALsartan In Acute myocardial iNfarcTion echo study to relate baseline MR to left ventricular (LV) size, shape, and function, and to assess the relationship between baseline MR and progression of MR and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes.

Methods And Results: We studied 496 patients with heart failure (HF) and/or systolic dysfunction after MI who underwent echocardiography at a median of 5 days after MI.

Assessment of stress-induced pulmonary interstitial edema by chest ultrasound during exercise echocardiography and its correlation with left ventricular function.

Ultrasound lung comet images (ULC) are useful for the noninvasive assessment of extravascular lung water (EVLW). We investigated the modification of EVLW, its relation to indices of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function, and noninvasively determined pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) (PCWP = 1.24 ratio of early diastolic mitral inflow velocity to early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus [E/Em] + 1.