Placental Sonomorphologic Appearance and Fetomaternal Outcome in Fontan Circulation.

Pregnancies in women with Fontan circulation are on the rise, and they are known to imply high maternal and fetal complication rates. The altered hemodynamic profile of univentricular circulation affects placental development and function. This study describes placental sonomorphologic appearance and Doppler examinations and correlates these to histopathologic findings and pregnancy outcomes in women with Fontan circulation.

Preclinical atherosclerotic burden in carotid and lower extremity arteries in adults with congenital heart disease.

Over 90% of patients with congenital heart defects now reach adulthood, due to significant medical advances in recent decades. With advancing age, the risk of acquired cardiovascular diseases increases in addition to the already existing risk due to the congenital defect. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of atherosclerotic lesions in carotid and lower extremity arteries in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD).

Telemonitoring with Electronic Devices in Patients with a Single Ventricle Anatomy.

Background:  A growing number of patients with a single ventricle anatomy, who had a Fontan palliation as a child, are now reaching adulthood. Many need an epimyocardial pacemaker system with an optional telemonitoring (TM) unit, which evaluates the collected data and sends it via Internet to the patient's physician. There are no data on the reliability and clinical relevance of these systems in this patient group.

Performance of epimyocardial leads in patients with a single ventricle circulation.

Background: Cardiac pacing can be challenging after a Fontan operation, and limited data exist regarding strategies to plan these epimyocardial systems while minimizing the number of surgical procedures.

Methods: A retrospective review of all our 47 patients (mean age 18 years, standard deviation 9 years) with a Fontan palliation who received an epimyocardial cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) between 2002 and 2020 with regard to the stability of the epimyocardial lead parameters and the incidence of system revisions.

Results: Over the last 18 years, 84 implantations or revisions of the epimyocardial CIED in 47 Fontan patients were performed.

Impact of left ventricular conduction defect with or without need for permanent right ventricular pacing on functional and clinical recovery after TAVR.

Background: Left ventricular conduction disturbances (VCD) with or without need for pacemaker (PM) implantation are common after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Its effect on patients' functional recovery after TAVR is unclear.

Methods And Results: 212 patients (Age 80.

Acute changes of mitral valve geometry during interventional edge-to-edge repair with the MitraClip system are associated with midterm outcomes in patients with functional valve disease: preliminary results from a prospective single-center study.

Background: Transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) is a treatment option in patients with symptomatic functional or degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR) at high surgical risk. The acute effect of MitraClip procedure on mitral valve (MV) annular geometry and its relation to functional outcomes is unclear. We sought to assess immediate effect of TMVR on MV annular geometry with 3-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography and the association of MV diameter reduction with functional response after 6 months.

Impact of untreated obstructive sleep apnea on left and right ventricular myocardial function and effects of CPAP therapy.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has deteriorating effect on LV function, whereas its impact on RV function is controversial. We aimed to determine the effect of OSA and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on left and right ventricular (LV, RV) function using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and 2 dimensional speckle tracking (2D ST) analysis of RV deformation capability.

Methods And Results: 82 patients with OSA and need for CPAP therapy were prospectively enrolled and underwent TTE at study inclusion and after 6 months of follow up (FU).

Diagnostic value of echocardiography in the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension.

Aims: To determine the value of echocardiography including tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and right ventricular (RV) speckle tracking analysis for the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and discrimination between pre- and postcapillary PH.

Methods And Results: 155 consecutive patients (mean age 70.5±13.

Three-dimensional speckle-tracking analysis of left ventricular function after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Background: The acute and long-term effects of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with aortic valve stenosis on left ventricular (LV) function are controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of TAVI on LV function with two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking analysis of LV deformation capability.

Methods: Patients underwent standardized 2D and 3D transthoracic echocardiography before TAVI and after 6 months of follow-up, including 3D and 2D LV deformation imaging.

Left atrial deformation imaging with ultrasound based two-dimensional speckle-tracking predicts the rate of recurrence of paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation after successful ablation procedures.

Objective: Since predictors of recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after ablation procedures are poorly defined, this prospective study was conducted to assess the value of left atrial (LA) deformation imaging with two-dimensional speckle-tracking (2D-ST) to predict AF recurrences after successful ablation procedures.

Methods And Results: One hundred and three consecutive patients (age 58.1 ± 16.