Vaccine hesitancy in Austria : A cross-sectional survey.

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is an emerging phenomenon particularly in industrialized nations. It has led to repeated epidemic outbreaks of otherwise vaccine-preventable, infectious diseases. Compared to other countries very low rates of influenza and measles vaccination rates have been reported in Austria.

Adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater metastasising into the right ventricle.

A 43-year-old woman, after resected adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, presented dyspnoea and beginning signs of right heart failure. Echocardiography revealed a mass within the right ventricle (RV) suspicious for a metastasis of the known adenocarcinoma. The decision for surgical resection was made by cardiovascular MR, which was able to delineate the infiltrative growth of a metastasis.

The use of imaging for electrophysiological and devices procedures: a report from the first European Heart Rhythm Association Policy Conference, jointly organized with the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), the Council of Cardiovascular Imaging and the European Society of Cardiac Radiology.

Implantations of cardiac devices therapies and ablation procedures frequently depend on accurate and reliable imaging modalities for pre-procedural assessments, intra-procedural guidance, detection of complications, and the follow-up of patients. An understanding of echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear cardiology, X-ray computed tomography, positron emission tomography, and vascular ultrasound is indispensable for cardiologists, electrophysiologists as well as radiologists, and it is currently recommended that physicians should be trained in several imaging modalities. There are, however, no current guidelines or recommendations by electrophysiologists, cardiac imaging specialists, and radiologists, on the appropriate use of cardiovascular imaging for selected patient indications, which needs to be addressed.

EuroEcho and other imaging modalities: highlights.

The annual meeting of the European Association of Echocardiography (Euroecho and other Imaging Modalities) was held in Athens, Greece. In the present paper, we present a summary of the 'Highlights' session.

European Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (EuroCMR) registry--multi national results from 57 centers in 15 countries.

Background: The EuroCMR registry sought to evaluate indications, image quality, safety and impact on patient management of clinical routine CMR in a multi-national European setting. Furthermore, interim analysis of the specific protocols should underscore the prognostic potential of CMR.

Methods: Multi-center registry with consecutive enrolment of patients in 57 centers in 15 countries.

Cost evaluation of cardiovascular magnetic resonance versus coronary angiography for the diagnostic work-up of coronary artery disease: application of the European Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance registry data to the German, United Kingdom, Swiss, and United States health care systems.

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has favorable characteristics for diagnostic evaluation and risk stratification of patients with known or suspected CAD. CMR utilization in CAD detection is growing fast. However, data on its cost-effectiveness are scarce.

Outbreak of leptospirosis among triathlon participants in Langau, Austria, 2010.

We report on the first documented outbreak of leptospirosis in Austria. In July 2010, four cases of serologically confirmed leptospirosis occurred in athletes after a triathlon held in Langau. Heavy rains preceded the triathlon (rainfall: 22 mm).

Acute adverse reactions to gadolinium-based contrast agents in CMR: multicenter experience with 17,767 patients from the EuroCMR Registry.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency, manifestation, and severity of acute adverse reactions associated with administration of several gadolinium-based contrast agents to patients who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in the EuroCMR (European Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance) Registry multinational and multicenter setting.

Background: The frequency, manifestations, and severity of acute adverse reactions associated with gadolinium-based contrast agents in the specific setting of cardiovascular magnetic resonance have not been systematically evaluated yet.

Methods: This is a multicenter and multinational registry with consecutive enrollment of patients in 45 European centers.

Cystic formation of the foramen ovale mimicking a right atrial myxoma.

A 65-year-old woman presented with shortness of breath, stenocardia, and tachycardia. She underwent several steps of examination. Echocardiography showed a suspicious formation in the right atrium extending into the inferior caval vein.

Model-based analysis of electrocardiography-gated cardiac (18)F-FDG PET images to assess left ventricular geometry and contractile function.

Unlabelled: This study presents and evaluates a model-based image analysis method to calculate from gated cardiac (18)F-FDG PET images diastolic and systolic volumes, ejection fraction, and myocardial mass of the left ventricle. The accuracy of these estimates was delineated using measurements obtained by MRI, which was considered the reference standard because of its high spatial resolution.

Methods: Twenty patients (18 men, 2 women; mean age +/- SD, 59 +/- 12 y) underwent electrocardiography-gated cardiac PET and MRI to acquire a set of systolic and diastolic short-axis images covering the heart from apex to base.

Usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging of cardiac and paracardiac masses.

In this study, magnetic resonance imaging was compared with histology to evaluate the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging to distinguish malignant from benign cardiac and paracardiac masses in 55 patients. Tumor location, tissue composition, and pericardial or pleural effusion all were identified as key predictors of lesion type. Observers were accurate in the prediction of lesion type (area under curve 0.

Elimination of errors caused by first-order aliasing in velocity encoded cine-MR measurements of postoperative jets after aortic coarctation: in vitro and in vivo validation.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a velocity-encoded cine-MR (VEC-MR) sequence in measuring flow velocities up to two times the velocity encoding value (VENC) in a flow phantom and to validate the method for assessing poststenotic jet velocities in postoperative patients after aortic coarctation. In vitro, a flow phantom was used (0.5T; TR/TE: 51/8 ms, flip angle=30 degrees, FOV=280 mm, 128x256 matrix VENC 40 or 80 cm/s).