Clinical predictors of left atrial thrombus and spontaneous echocardiographic contrast in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Objectives: We sought to determine the relationship between clinical risk factors for systemic thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation and the prevalence of left atrial (LA) spontaneous echocontrast (SEC) and LA thrombus (LAT).

Background: Atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of systemic thromboembolism. LA SEC and LAT also predict thromboembolic events.

Clinical and echocardiographic markers of mortality risk in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is independently associated with increases in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Although cardiovascular co-morbidities predict stroke risk in AF, their relation with mortality has not been well described. To identify clinical and echocardiographic markers of mortality in patients with AF, 524 patients with AF underwent transesophageal echocardiography from August 2000 to March 2005.

Usefulness of myocardial contrast echocardiography in predicting late mortality in patients with anterior wall acute myocardial infarction.

We investigated whether myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) performed soon after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) improves risk stratification for late mortality. MCE after AMI identifies microvascular "no-reflow" and predicts early outcomes; however, the predictive value of MCE for late mortality is unknown. One hundred sixty-seven patients with anterior AMI and left ventricular dysfunction underwent MCE 2 days after admission, and a perfusion score index (PSI) was calculated.

Contrast administration reduces interobserver variability in determination of left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and good baseline endocardial border delineation.

Echocardiographic contrast agents improve endocardial border delineation in patients with technically difficult baseline studies. With medical and device therapy for heart failure increasingly based on left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) partition values, the accurate and reproducible assessment of LV function is necessary. It was hypothesized that routine contrast enhancement would significantly reduce interobserver variability in the determination of LVEFs in a cohort of patients with LV dysfunction and good baseline endocardial delineation.