Myocardial External Efficiency in Asymptomatic Severe Primary Mitral Regurgitation Using C-Acetate PET.

Subjects with asymptomatic moderate-to-severe or severe primary mitral regurgitation are closely observed for signs of progression or symptoms requiring surgical intervention. The role of myocardial metabolic function in progression of mitral regurgitation is poorly understood. We used C-acetate PET to noninvasively measure myocardial mechanical external efficiency (MEE), which is the energetic ratio of external cardiac work and left ventricular (LV) oxygen consumption.

Test-retest reliability of new and conventional echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular systolic function.

Background: Reliability of left ventricular function measurements depends on actual biological conditions, repeated registrations and their analyses.

Objective: To investigate test-retest reliability of speckle-tracking-derived strain measurements and its determinants compared to the conventional parameters, such as ejection fraction (EF), LV volumes and mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE).

Methods: In 30 patients with a wide range of left ventricular function (mean EF 46.

Changes in global longitudinal strain and left ventricular ejection fraction during the first year after myocardial infarction: results from a large consecutive cohort.

Aims: To determine changes of global longitudinal strain (GLS) and their predictors in relation to classical echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular (LV) function, over 1 year, in consecutive patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and initially normal or impaired LV ejection fraction (EF).

Methods And Results: A total of 285 patients with MI prospectively included in the REBUS (RElevance of Biomarkers for future risk of thromb-oembolic events in UnSelected post-myocardial infarction patients) study underwent echocardiography within 72 h from admission and after 1 year. At baseline, 213 (74.

Case Studies in Physiology: Ventilation and perfusion in a giraffe-does size matter?

The trachea in the giraffe is long but narrow, and dead space ventilation is considered to be of approximately the same size as in other mammals. Less is known about the matching between ventilation and lung blood flow. The lungs in the giraffe are large, up to 1 m high and 0.

Usefulness of traditional echocardiographic parameters in assessment of left ventricular function in patients with normal ejection fraction early after acute myocardial infarction: results from a large consecutive cohort.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of left ventricular (LV) systolic function impairment using classical echocardiographic parameters and their relation to myocardial damage in patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (MI) with normal LV ejection fraction (LVEF ≥52% in males or ≥54% in females).

Methods And Results: All 421 consecutive patients with MI included in the REBUS (RElevance of Biomarkers for future risk of thromboembolic events in UnSelected post-myocardial infarction patients) study underwent two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography within 72 h after admission. A normal LVEF was present in 262 (73.