Publications by authors named "Bethany Gholson"
Background: In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), ventricular dysfunction can occur from primary immune injury or secondarily from SLE-related co-morbidities. The aim of this study was to determine clinical predictors of reduced left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function in an effort to understand potentially mitigating strategies.
Methods: We retrospectively studied 76 patients with SLE who had comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography within 3 months of an appointment with a rheumatologist to correlate clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic features.
Background: When assessing right ventricular (RV) function by echocardiography, some discordance between the deformational indices is predicted on the basis of the influence of RV length. RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWS) is relatively independent of RV length, whereas tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) reflects the strain-length product. Systolic annular velocity (s'; distance over time) is also likely to be influenced by length.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Improvements in ultrasound methods for detecting microbubble ultrasound enhancing agents have led to an increase in the use of perfusion imaging with myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). This technique is now beginning to play an important role in specific clinical scenarios, which is the focus of this review.
Recent Findings: MCE was originally conceived as a technique for detecting resting perfusion abnormalities related to ischemia at rest or during stress from coronary artery disease.