An Integrative, Multiparametric Approach to Mitral Regurgitation Evaluation: A Case-Based Illustration.

Echocardiography is the first-line modality for assessing mitral regurgitation (MR). In addition to evaluation of the MR jet characteristics, echocardiography can provide quantitative parameters of MR severity. This case series illustrates the importance of integrating multiple parameters in the evaluation of MR and the role of multimodality imaging.

Prosthetic Aortic Valve Regurgitation: The Story of a Missing Piece in the Puzzle.

A 65-year-old man presented with acute decompensated heart failure. He was found to have severe prosthetic aortic valve regurgitation caused by a fractured strut of a sutureless prosthetic aortic valve that embolized to the distal portion of the aorta. We highlight the importance of multimodality imaging in diagnosis and management.

Cardiac involvement in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and its incremental value in outcomes prediction.

Recent reports linked acute COVID-19 infection in hospitalized patients to cardiac abnormalities. Studies have not evaluated presence of abnormal cardiac structure and function before scanning in setting of COVD-19 infection. We sought to examine cardiac abnormalities in consecutive group of patients with acute COVID-19 infection according to the presence or absence of cardiac disease based on review of health records and cardiovascular imaging studies.

Baseline global longitudinal strain predictive of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.

Background: Cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRD) is a major source of morbidity and mortality in long-term cancer survivors. Decreased GLS predicts decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients receiving anthracyclines, but knowledge regarding the clinical utility of baseline GLS in patients at low-risk of (CTRD) is limited.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether baseline echocardiographic assessment of global longitudinal strain (GLS) before treatment with anthracyclines is predictive of (CTRD) in a broad cohort of patients with normal baseline LVEF.

Impact of Social Media and Virtual Learning on Cardiology During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era and Beyond.

Over the past decade, advances in digital trends and technology have greatly impacted the medical field with rapid delivery of and access to information. The field of cardiovascular medicine in particular has seen major technological advances and is well versed in the use of digital platforms and social media. In these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media and other digital platforms are essential tools for communication, education, and delivery of information.

Coronary Artery Fistula.

Coronary artery fistulae are rare abnormalities of the coronary arteries that are usually discovered incidentally on coronary angiogram. Most patients remain asymptomatic, and significant hemodynamic consequences are rarely observed. The following report describes the case of a patient presenting with symptoms of congestive cardiac failure due to multiple coronary artery fistulae.

Doppler Echocardiography for the Estimation of LV Filling Pressure in Patients With Mitral Annular Calcification.

Objectives: This study sought to identify Doppler parameters useful for the assessment of left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) in patients with mitral annular calcification (MAC) and to develop and validate a decision algorithm for assessing LVFP in such patients.

Background: Predicting LVFP in the presence of MAC is problematic.

Methods: Prospectively, 50 patients with MAC (mean 72 ± 11 years of age) underwent a complete Doppler echocardiographic study and right or left heart catheterization.

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy: The role of advanced multimodality imaging techniques in diagnosis and assessment.

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is a unique cardiomyopathy with a diverse array of genotypic and phenotypic manifestations. Its hallmark morphology consists of a bilayered myocardium with a compact epicardial layer and prominent trabeculations that comprise the noncompacted endocardial layer. The controversial diagnostic criteria for NCCM have been frequently discussed in the literature.

Diagnosis of ischemia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: role of computed tomography and nuclear stress testing.

Purpose Of Review: Chest pain and myocardial ischemia are common features in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This review addresses diagnostic roles of computed tomography and nuclear stress testing (NST) in patients with HCM.

Recent Findings: Current evidence showed the limitation of NST in the diagnosis of epicardial coronary artery stenosis due to the prevalent microvascular dysfunction.

Prediction of significant conduction disease through noninvasive assessment of cardiac calcification.

Aims: Cardiac calcification is associated with coronary artery disease, arrhythmias, conduction disease, and adverse cardiac events. Recently, we have described an echocardiographic-based global cardiac calcification scoring system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the severity of cardiac calcification in patients with permanent pacemakers as based on this scoring system.

Relation between common allergic symptoms and coronary heart disease among NHANES III participants.

We investigated whether there is an increased risk of coronary heart diseases (CHD) in those with common allergic symptoms using the NHANES III, which is a representative sample of the United States population in 1988 to 1994. CHD was defined by Rose questionnaire and history of heart attack. Allergic symptoms were categorized into no symptoms (NO), rhinoconjunctivitis without wheezing (RC), and wheezing (WZ) based on symptoms.