Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries treated by partial systemic ventriculectomy.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA) is a rare congenital heart disease characterized by atrioventricular (AV) and ventriculo-arterial discordance;(1) that is, the left ventricle supports the pulmonary circulation and the right ventricle supports the systemic circulation. The most common cardiac anomalies in CCTGA include ventricular septal defect, pulmonary outflow tract obstruction and abnormalities of the systemic AV valve. (1) The dysfunction of the systemic ventricle occurs with increasing frequency in older patients with CCTGA, independent of their commonly associated structural defects.

Influence of propranolol infusion on cyclic variation of myocardial integrated backscatter in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

It has been demonstrated that cyclic variation, assessed by myocardial integrated backscatter, reflects regional myocardial contractile function. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of administration of beta-blocker propranolol on cyclic variation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and persistent left ventricular (LV) pressure gradient and to test the hypothesis that the reduction of LV pressure gradient would be related to the change in regional contractile function. Before and after 2 mg propranolol infusion, transthoracic echocardiography with integrated backscatter analysis was performed on 11 patients (8 men and 3 women, mean age 54 +/- 12 years old).

Prediction of functional recovery of the left ventricle after coronary revascularization in patients with prior anterior myocardial infarction: a myocardial integrated backscatter study.

Cyclic variation (CV) of myocardial integrated backscatter (IBS), which reflects intrinsic contractile performance, can predict myocardial viability in patients with a reperfused acute myocardial infarction (MI), but the use of this method has not been validated for chronic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. The aim of this study was to examine whether myocardial IBS was useful for predicting LV functional recovery after coronary revascularization in 17 patients with prior anterior MI and LV dysfunction (ejection fraction <50%). Within 24 h of the revascularization procedure (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary stenting), IBS curves were obtained by placing the region of interest on the anterior wall on the short-axis IBS image.