The Importance of Being Aware of Intrinsic Methods' Limitation in Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Determination to Correctly Identify Cardiovascular Risk: Is Direct Determination Obtained with the Roche System Systematically Overestimating LDL in Very High-Risk Patients with Triglycerides Concentration of Less than 2.25 mmol/L?

Background: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a strong cardiovascular risk factor, but the methods used to correctly determine it are is still questioned. The aim of this study was to compare the direct determination of LDL-C levels, obtained with the Roche cobas c system, with LDL-C values calculated through Sampson's and Friedewald's equations in very high-risk patients with triglycerides concentrations of less than 2.25 mmol/L (<200 mg/dL).

Multi-Modality Imaging Approach to a rare form of Biventricular Ring-Shaped Constrictive Pericarditis.

A 48-year-old man with AIDS/HIV and a previous history of tuberculous pericarditis 25 years earlier was admitted to our department of infectious diseases because of P. carinii pneumonia. A CT (computed tomography) scan described diffuse pericardial thickening with extensive pericardial calcifications on both ventricles.

Large Serpiginous Thrombus Crossing a Patent Foramen Ovale.

Transesophageal iconic image of a large serpiginous thrombus crossing a patent foramen ovale.

Reverse Remodeling and Functional Improvement of Left Ventricle in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure Treated with Sacubitril/Valsartan: Comparison between Non-Ischemic and Ischemic Etiology.

Sacubitril/valsartan (SV) has been demonstrated to reduce cardiovascular mortality, hospitalization for heart failure and to induce reverse ventricular remodeling. The present study was designed to confirm the effects of SV in a selected population of patients with HFrEF and to evaluate the different responses between patients with an ischemic or a non-ischemic etiology. A total of 79 patients with indication of SV were recruited prospectively during a timelapse of 4 years.

New speckle-tracking algorithm for right ventricular volume analysis from three-dimensional echocardiographic data sets: validation with cardiac magnetic resonance and comparison with the previous analysis tool.

Aims: (i) To validate a new software for right ventricular (RV) analysis by 3D echocardiography (3DE) against cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR); (ii) to assess the accuracy of different measurement approaches; and (iii) to explore any benefits vs. the previous software.

Methods And Results: We prospectively studied with 3DE and CMR 47 patients (14-82 years, 28 men) having a wide range of RV end-diastolic volumes (EDV 82-354 mL at CMR) and ejection fractions (EF 34-81%).

Role of three-dimensional echocardiography in structural complications after acute myocardial infarction.

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is a unique cardiovascular imaging modality in terms of: ability to provide realistic anatomical views of cardiac structures in the beating heart and possibility to visualize cardiac structures from any desired perspective. Therefore, 3DE is emerging as an accurate imaging modality for a prompt diagnosis and detailed anatomical description of structural complications (SC) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We report 3 emblematic cases which show how both the transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) 3D imaging can provide precise anatomic information useful to address management of SC in AMI patients: (1) detailed assessment of size, location, and morphology of an apical ventricular septal defect (VSD) obtained with 3DTTE was pivotal in referring the patient to percutaneous closure of it; (2) size and location of a complex inferior VSD with irregular margins advised against percutaneous closure; and (3) 3DTEE assisted surgeons to choose between reparative or replacement surgery for an acute mitral regurgitation due to complete papillary muscle rupture.

Age-, body size-, and sex-specific reference values for right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction by three-dimensional echocardiography: a multicenter echocardiographic study in 507 healthy volunteers.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) vary significantly with demographic and anthropometric factors and are associated with poor prognosis in several cardiovascular diseases. This multicenter study was designed to (1) establish the reference values for RV volumes and EF using transthoracic three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography; (2) investigate the influence of age, sex, and body size on RV anatomy; (3) develop normative equations.

Methods And Results: RV volumes (end-diastolic volume and end-systolic volume), stroke volume, and EF were measured by 3D echocardiography in 540 healthy adult volunteers, prospectively enrolled, evenly distributed across age and sex.

Sources of variation and bias in assessing left ventricular volumes and dyssynchrony using three-dimensional echocardiography.

Study aim To explore various sources of variability in the measurement of LV volumes and dyssynchrony by 3D echocardiography (3DE). Methods We studied 100 patients (58 ± 18 years, 51 men) to assess the impact of: (1) manual editing; (2) 3D data set temporal resolution; (3) LV 16- or 17-segmentation model; (4) software sensitivity for automated endocardial surface detection; and (5) image quality, on the measurement of LV end-diastolic (EDV) and end-systolic (ESV) volumes, sphericity indices (EDSI, ESSI), ejection fraction (EF) and dyssynchrony (SDI). Two- and 4-beat LV full-volume data sets were analyzed and compared.

High volume-rate three-dimensional stress echocardiography to assess inducible myocardial ischemia: a feasibility study.

Background: Compared with previous three-dimensional (3D) echocardiographic scanners, high-volume rate scanners allow higher temporal resolution and the possibility of displaying cropped images side by side. These new features make 3D echocardiography (3DE) even more attractive for application during stress. The aim of this study was to compare the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of high-volume rate 3DE with state-of-the-art two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) in detecting ischemia during dipyridamole-induced stress (DipSE).

Validation of a novel automated border-detection algorithm for rapid and accurate quantitation of left ventricular volumes based on three-dimensional echocardiography.

Aims: To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of a novel automated software for left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) measurements using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE).

Methods And Results: A total of 103 patients with a wide range of LV volumes were analyzed with both 4D AutoLVQ and 4D TomTec software. In 23 patients, a side-by-side comparison of LV volume and EF measurements was done between 3DE, 2DE, and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR).