Coronary tortuosity affects left ventricular myocardial functions: a 3D-speckle tracking echocardiography study.

Coronary artery tortuosity (CAT) is a common finding in coronary angiography, and is defined as three fixed bends during both systole and diastole in at least one epicardial coronary artery, with each bend showing a 45° change in vessel direction. The impact of CAT on the myocardial deformation has not been completely evaluated using 3D-STE. As a result of this, we aimed to assess the effects of CAT on LV functions using 3D-STE in the present study.

3D-speckle tracking echocardiography for assessment of coronary artery disease severity in stable angina pectoris.

Background And Aim: Stable angina pectoris is a common disease that may cause disability. Some noninvasive new methods can be useful for the detection of early-stage coronary artery disease. The relationship between coronary artery disease (CAD) severity and resting 3-dimensional-speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE) in stable angina pectoris patients was evaluated in this study.

Comparison of Warfarin use in terms of efficacy and safety in two different polyclinics.

Objective: This study compared the efficacy and safety of warfarin in specialized international normalized ratio (INR) outpatient clinic (INR-C) and in general cardiology outpatient clinic (General-C).

Methods: Herein, 381 consecutive patients with a regular follow-up at INR-C (n=233) or General-C (n=148) for at least 1 year were retrospectively included. While INR-C patients were followed by a single experienced trained nurse, General-C patients were followed by a different cardiologist who worked in a rotational principle every month.

[Perioperative assessment of elderly patient with cardiovascular disease].

Elderly people who require surgery is increasing as a resul of increased life expectancy. Surgery is a major stress factor for all patients however older patients have limited reserve to handle this stress. In this review preoperative assessment of cardiovascular reserve in elderly population and major subjects to take attention in perioperative period were evaluated according to recent guidelines and literatüre.

Early Reverse Cardiac Remodeling Effect of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy.

Background: This study evaluated the early postoperative benefits of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) on the left ventricular (LV) function and left atrial (LA) structural, mechanical, and electrical functions in severely obese patients.

Methods: Thirty-two patients with severe obesity who were consecutively scheduled for LSG and 30 healthy controls were included in the study. LV global longitudinal strain (LGS), peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS), and strain rates (S-Sr, E-Sr, and A-Sr) of the lateral and septal LA walls, and intra- and interatrial dyssynchrony periods for all subjects were evaluated using strain echocardiography.

A complicated trilogy: persistent left superior vena cava with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and atrial septal defect.

Extract: A 28-year-old asymptomatic woman was referred to ourclinic for evaluation of a heart murmur. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) demonstrated ventricular hypertrophy with septal thickness of 26 mm., consistent with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Chronic Papillary Muscle Rupture: 14-Year Survival without Surgical Treatment.

Unlabelled: Papillary muscle rupture is a life-threatening complication of myocardial infarction which is usually refractory to medical treatment. We present a very rare case of a 65-year-old woman who had a myocardial infarction and posteromedial papillary muscle rupture which was only treated with medical therapy, including her corresponding 14-year follow-up. However, surgical intervention is still strongly recommended because the prognosis of acute papillary muscle rupture associated with myocardial infarction remains poor.

Relationships between P wave dispersion, atrial electromechanical delay, left atrial remodeling, and NT-proBNP levels, in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: We evaluated the associations among the well-known atrial fibrillation (AF) predictors including P-wave dispersion (PWD), intra- and inter-atrial electromechanical dyssynchrony (EMD), left atrial (LA) phasic functions, and plasma N-terminal prohormone of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Methods: Seventy patients with HCM and age and sex matched 70 subjects were enrolled. PWD, LA total emptying fraction (LATEFr), active emptying fraction (LAAEFr), passive emptying fraction (LAPEFr), expansion index (LAEI) intra- and inter-atrial EMD were calculated.

Hypereosinophilic syndrome presenting with large left ventricular apical thrombus and pulmonary embolism.

A 45-year-old man presented with dyspnea on exertion, fatigue, and cough. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a large apical thrombus in the left ventricle. The laboratory results showed prominent eosinophilia on blood smear, elevated acute phase reactants and D-dimer serum levels.

Evaluation of the severity of mitral regurgitation by the use of signal void in magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: The study was designed to evaluate the severity of mitral regurgitation by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We proposed a new measurement of signal void by MRI and tried to define threshold values for the severity of regurgitation with different sequences.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with mitral regurgitation were evaluated by echocardiography and MRI.

Right ventricular adaptations along with left ventricular remodeling in older athletes.

Background: Afterload changes and anatomic interaction between the ventricles cause right ventricle (RV) adaptation along with left ventricle (LV) remodeling. This study was designed to evaluate RV adaptations along with LV remodeling and to determine the effect of aging on both ventricles in a population of older athletes.

Methods: Echocardiographic characteristics of 48 endurance trained older athletes were examined by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and integrated backscatter (IBS).

Left ventricular function in professional football players evaluated by tissue Doppler imaging and strain imaging.

Background: Long-term regular exercise is associated with physiologic and morphologic cardiac alterations. Tissue Doppler Imaging(TDI) and Strain Myocardial Imaging(SI) are new tools in the evaluation systolic and diastolic myocardial function. We sought to compare TDI and SI findings in professional football players and age adjusted sedentary controls to assess the effect of regular athletic training on myocardial function.

Mycotic aneurysms of aortic root and aorta-to-left atrial fistula complicating bicuspid aortic valve endocarditis.

Unlike root abscess, fistula formation is quite uncommon in aortic valve endocarditis. In this report, we describe a patient with subacute bicuspid aortic valve endocarditis complicated by aortic insufficiency, mycotic aneurysms of the aortic root and fistulous communication between the aorta and the left atrium and his recovery upon surgical treatment.

A giant inferoposterior true aneurysm of the left ventricle mimicking a pseudoaneurysm.

A left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) is most commonly the result of myocardial infarction, usually involving the anterior wall. A left ventricular pseudoaneurysm (LVPSA) or false aneurysm forms when cardiac rupture is contained by adherent pericardium or scar tissue. The accurate diagnosis, although difficult to establish, is an important one to make because these aneurysms are prone to rupture.

[Evaluation of early alterations in transmitral diastolic flow and tissue Doppler findings of the Basal segments of both ventricles in early period after coronary angioplasty].

Objective: Diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle (LV) appears to be the earliest manifestation of myocardial ischemia. Experimental and clinical studies have shown that both early and late improvements of diastolic function occur after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Because of the limited utility of transmitral flow profile in the evaluation of the LV diastolic function, recently, assessment of myocardial velocities by Doppler tissue imaging is gaining importance.

Relationship Between Echocardiographic Determinants of Left Atrial Spontaneous Echo Contrast and Thrombus Formation in Patients with Rheumatic Mitral Valve Disease.

Spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) may be detected by ultrasonography in environments favoring blood stasis. It is most commonly seen through the use of transesophageal echocardiography in the left atrium of patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease especially in the presence of atrial fibrillation. We studied the predictors of SEC, such as cardiac rhythm, left atrium and left atrial appendage functions, and mitral and pulmonary vein flow parameters, in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease.