Valvular heart disease, Part 2. Mitral valve disease in older adults.

Mitral valve disease is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients over age 65. The etiology, physical findings, and natural history of rheumatic mitral stenosis, rheumatic mitral regurgitation, chronic non-rheumatic mitral regurgitation, and acute mitral regurgitation may differ in older and younger patients. In addition, symptoms of mitral valve disease may be masked or exacerbated by coexistent coronary artery disease, pulmonary disease, hypertension, and other systemic disorders that commonly occur in older adults.

Valvular heart disease, Part 1. Diagnosis and surgical management of aortic valve disease in older adults.

Aortic valve disease is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in older patients. The etiology, physical findings, and natural history of aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation may differ in older patients compared with younger patients. In addition, symptoms of aortic valve disease may be masked or exacerbated by co-existent coronary artery disease, hypertension, pulmonary diseases, and other systemic disorders that commonly occur in the geriatric population.

Multiplane Transesophageal and Intracardiac Echocardiography in Large Swine: Imaging Technique, Normal Values, and Research Applications.

Transthoracic echocardiographic imaging has been difficult to attain in the swine model. This study: (1) compares multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) with single plane TEE and intracardiac catheter echocardiography (ICE) for imaging of the swine cardiovascular system; and (2) defines normal values using these techniques in a closed chest large swine model (n = 24, body weight 50-114 kg). Multiplane TEE increased success rate over the single plane (the variable plane array only at 0 degrees ) TEE (P < 0.