Publications by authors named "Alja Vlahovic"
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO) could transiently reverse hypoxia during acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In order to evaluate whether early HBO can identify viable segments after AMI, improvement of wall motion score index (WMSI) after HBO was compared to dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Thirty-one patients with first AMI treated with thrombolysis received 100% oxygen at 2 technical atmospheres for 1 h within 24 h of the onset of chest pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To determine prognostic implications of the assessment of right (RV) vs. left ventricular (LV) contractile reserve with dobutamine echocardiography in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Methods And Results: Forty-eight consecutive patients (41 male, NYHA class III/IV 13 patients, LV ejection fraction 19+/-8%) were subjected to dobutamine stress echocardiography in incremental stages lasting 5 min each.
Introduction: It is of the utmost importance to make an accurate assessment of prognosis in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Both high-dose dobutamine stress-echocardiography and exercise testing have been used for prognostic stratification of these patients.
Objective: To make head-to-head comparison of high-dose dobutamine stress-echocardiography and exercise testing in prognostic stratification of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Background: This study was designed to determine the relationship between histomorphometric features and contractile reserve assessed by high-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Methods: Twenty-four consecutive patients (21 men, aged 43.4+/-8.
Background: The role of hyperbaric oxygen in patients with acute myocardial infarction is controversial, ranging from not beneficial to having a favorable effect. This randomized study was conducted to further assess the benefit of hyperbaric oxygen treatment after thrombolysis on left ventricular function and remodeling in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Methods: Seventy-four consecutive patients with first acute myocardial infarction were randomly assigned to treatment with hyperbaric oxygen treatment combined with streptokinase (HBO+) or streptokinase alone (HBO-).
Background: It has been shown that transient increase in left ventricular stiffness, assessed by Doppler-derived early filling deceleration time, occurs during the first 24 to 48 hours after myocardial infarction but returns to normal within several days. It has been reported that hyperbaric oxygen treatment has a favorable effect on left ventricular systolic function in patients with acute myocardial infarction treated with thrombolysis. However, there are no data on the effects of hyperbaric oxygen on diastolic function after myocardial infarction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The impact of thrombolytic therapy on the incidence of complex ventricular arrhythmias is not yet clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of thrombolytic therapy on the incidence of complex ventricular arrhythmias, as well as long term association between complex ventricular arrhythmias and left ventricular remodelling, and their impact on five-year lethality.
Methods: Ninety seven consecutive patients with first acute myocardial infarction (streptokinase was administered in 58 patients), underwent 24-hours Holter monitoring at discharge.
Objective: We sought to compare single-beat estimates of contractility indices.
Methods: Echocardiography was performed for 6 control patients, 8 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, and 9 patients with mitral regurgitation (MR). Left ventricular volume waveform, outflow tract velocities, and mitral annulus velocities were recorded with carotid tonometry.