Evaluation of Left Ventricular Diastolic Function by Echocardiography with Tissue Doppler in Systemic Sclerosis.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SS) is a connective tissue abnormality characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Cardiac involvement with consequent myocardial dysfunction in SS is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

Objective: To investigate the left ventricular (LV) diastolic function in patients with SS and preserved systolic function.

Importance of adequately performed Valsalva maneuver to detect patent foramen ovale during transesophageal echocardiography.

Background: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) plays an important role in evaluating cardioembolic sources of emboli. The identification of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is reportedly improved with TEE compared with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), but the Valsalva maneuver during TEE may be difficult or suboptimal. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of the Valsalva maneuver for PFO diagnosis using TEE compared with TTE by evaluating patients with ischemic stroke referred for echocardiography.

Cardiac obstruction secondary to metastatic invasion - A rare complication of Human Herpes Virus 8-positive plasmablastic lymphoma in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Human herpes virus 8 (HHV8)-positive plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a particularly rare and aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, strongly associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection, with poor response to therapy and short survival. Characteristically, it shows proliferation of large plasmablastic cells with often eccentrically placed nuclei, with immunohistochemical assay positive for HHV8 latent nuclear antigen 1 and IgM. Primary mediastinal occurrence of a HHV8-positive PBL is rare and metastatic disease even more uncommon; tumor invasion to the heart leading to intracardiac obstruction with a rapidly fatal disease course has not been previously described.

Endophthalmitis as a first manifestation of right-sided endocarditis in a patient with patent foramen ovale.

Endogenous endophthalmitis is a rare complication of endocarditis, rendering poor visual prognosis. We report a case of a 66-year-old female with renal failure who presented with fever, ocular pain, and purulent eye discharge. After a diagnosis of endogenous endophthalmitis, she was treated with antibiotics and enucleation of the eye.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography in patients with diabetes mellitus: enhanced prognostic prediction using a simple risk score.

Objectives: We sought to determine the prognostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) for predicting long-term outcomes in a large cohort with diabetes mellitus and to develop a simple risk score using clinical and echocardiographic data.

Background: Neither risk scores nor long-term prognostic value of DSE has been described in a large diabetic population.

Methods: We studied 2,349 patients with diabetes mellitus (1,338 men, 67 +/- 11 years of age) during a follow-up of 5.