Successful Pregnancy After Cardiac Arrest in a Woman With Severe Coronary Vasospasm.

A 37-year-old gravida 5, para 3 woman presented with an unplanned pregnancy 6 weeks after experiencing a cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation from coronary vasospasm. She opted to continue the pregnancy with medical management despite ongoing chest pain and delivered a healthy female infant via vaginal delivery at 37 weeks.

Management of Friedreich Ataxia-Associated Cardiomyopathy in Pregnancy: A Review of the Literature.

A major manifestation of Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is cardiomyopathy, caused by mitochondrial proliferation in myocytes. Because the lifespan for patients with FRDA improves with better treatment modalities, more patients are becoming pregnant, meaning that more medical providers must know how to care for this population. This report provides a review of the literature on multidisciplinary management of pregnant patients with FRDA and cardiomyopathy from preconception through lactation.

Outpatient intravenous diuresis in a rural setting: safety, efficacy, and outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and outcomes of outpatient intravenous diuresis in a rural setting and compare it to urban outcomes.

Methods: A single-center study was conducted on 60 patients (131 visits) at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) from 1/2021-12/2022. Demographics, visit data, and outcomes were collected and compared to urban outpatient IV centers, and inpatient HF hospitalizations from DHMC FY21 and national means.

Women's Cardiovascular Health: Prioritizing the Majority Minority.

Women make up the majority of the global population, and [...

Association between Abnormal Echocardiography and Adverse Obstetric Outcomes in Low-Risk Pregnant Women.

Maternal mortality in the United States is a public health crisis of preventable deaths among young women. The role of echocardiography in the evaluation of pregnant women with cardiovascular symptoms or risk factors without known heart disease is unclear. We retrospectively examined the clinical characteristics of consecutive pregnant patients without established heart disease who underwent echocardiography and evaluated associations between abnormal exam findings and obstetric outcomes.

Myocardial mechanics of percutaneous intramyocardial septal radiofrequency ablation.

Objective: Echocardiography-guided Percutaneous IntraMyocardial Septal Radiofrequency Ablation (PIMSRA, Liwen procedure) is a novel treatment option for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). The impact of PIMSRA on myocardial mechanics is unknown.

Methods: Between October 2016 and June 2019, PIMSRA and 3-dimentional speckle tracking echocardiography were performed in 82 patients.

Lateral annular systolic excursion ratio: A novel measurement of right ventricular systolic function by two-dimensional echocardiography.

Introduction: Accurate assessment of right ventricular (RV) systolic function has prognostic and therapeutic implications in many disease states. Echocardiography remains the most frequently deployed imaging modality for this purpose, but estimation of RV systolic function remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a novel measurement of RV systolic function called lateral annular systolic excursion ratio (LASER), which is the fractional shortening of the lateral tricuspid annulus to apex distance, compared to right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) derived by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).

Exploring the Changes in Code Status During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Implications for Future Pandemic Care.

We aim to explore patterns of inpatient code status during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with a similar timeframe the previous year, as well as utilization of palliative care services. This is a retrospective cohort study using data from the Montefiore Health system of all inpatient admissions between March 15-May 31, 2019 and March 15-May 31, 2020. Univariate logistic regression was performed with full code status as the outcome.

The Utility of Maternal Point of Care Ultrasound on Labor and Delivery Wards.

Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) refers to limited bedside ultrasound used to evaluate patients for conditions specific to the scope of their practice. Given the benefits of its application, interest in its use is increasing. We aimed to review the literature and assess the potential feasibility of using POCUS of the heart and lungs in the field of obstetrics.

DNR Code Status Is Not Associated with Under-Utilization of Inpatient Transthoracic Echocardiograms.

In the strictest sense, do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status means that cardiopulmonary resuscitation should not be performed after death has occurred; all other medical interventions in line with a patient's goals of care should be implemented. The use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in patients with DNR status is unknown. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the utilization of TTE among patients with DNR status using this retrospective data analysis.

Incremental prognostic value of biventricular longitudinal strain and high-sensitivity troponin I in COVID-19 patients.

Background: Whether the combination of ventricular strain with high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-TNI) has an incremental prognostic value in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients has not been evaluated. The study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of biventricular longitudinal strain and its combination with hs-TNI in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A total of 160 COVID-19 patients who underwent both echocardiography and hs-TNI testing were enrolled in our study.

Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography with Novel Imaging Technique of Higher Frame Rate.

The accuracy of speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) depends on temporal resolution. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of relatively high frame rate (rHi-FR) (~200 fps) for STE. In this prospective study, echocardiographic images were acquired using clinical scanners on patients with normal left ventricular systolic function using rHi-FR and conventional frame rate (Reg-FR) (~50 FPS).

Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Pregnancy: Cardio-Obstetrics Management in a Late Presentation.

• Congenital heart disease may be first diagnosed during pregnancy. • PDA with significant left-to-right shunting can cause peripartum cardiac decompensation. • Multidisciplinary management of congenital heart disease in pregnancy is recommended.

Echocardiography Abnormal Findings and Laboratory Operations during the COVID-19 Pandemic at a High Volume Center in New York City.

(1) Background: This study sought to explore how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected the echocardiography (TTE) laboratory operations at a high volume medical center in New York City. Changes in cardiac imaging study volume, turn-around time, and abnormal findings were analyzed and compared to a pre-pandemic period. (2) Methods: Volume of all cardiac imaging studies and TTE reports between 11 March 2020 to 5 May 2020 and the same calendar period in 2019 were retrospectively identified and compared.

Saddle pulmonary embolism and thrombus-in-transit straddling the patent foramen ovale 28 days after COVID symptom onset.

We present a late presentation of saddle pulmonary embolism and thrombus-in-transit straddle the patent foramen on patient who successfully recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Seven days postdischarge (ie, 28 days after initial COVID-19 symptom onset), she was readmitted to hospital for severe dyspnea. Computer tomography angiogram and echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis.

A self-resolving, post-traumatic aortopulmonary shunt.

A 34-year-old Hispanic man sustained a stab wound to his chest complicated with hemopericardium and pericardial tamponade. He underwent emergent clamshell thoracotomy as well as repair to the pulmonary artery. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed no evidence of intracardiac shunt.

Clinical Characteristics of Young Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction in a Racially Diverse Cohort.

Background: Information on the clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of young patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction is scant, especially among racially diverse populations.

Methods: Patients admitted to Montefiore Medical Center between 2000 and 2016 with heart failure and ejection fraction of <40% were categorized as young (18-39 years), middle-aged (40-64 years), and elderly (≥65 years). Multivariable Cox regression models were used to evaluate mortality risk.

Racial differences of heart failure with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF): a large urban centre-based retrospective cohort study in the USA.

Objectives: We aimed to study the racial differences in clinical presentations, survival outcomes and outcome predictors among patients with heart failure (HF) with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF, EF 40%-49%).

Design: This is a retrospective study.

Setting: Adults with HF diagnosis at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York between 2008 and 2012, with an inpatient echocardiogram showing left ventricular ejection fraction of 40%-49% were included as HFmrEF population.