Association between fibroblast growth factor 23 and left ventricular hypertrophy in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Comparison with B-type natriuretic peptide and cardiac troponin T.

Background: Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is a novel bone-derived phosphate-regulating hormone, and serum FGF-23 levels are associated with mortality among hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, the pathophysiological role of FGF-23 in those patients remains unclear, so the association between serum FGF-23 levels and known cardiac biomarkers or echocardiographic measurements were investigated in long-term HD patients without cardiac symptoms.

Methods And Results: The 87 consecutive patients treated in a single HD center (51 males, 36 females; mean age 64 years, mean HD duration 5.

Parametric detection and measurement of perfusion defects in attenuated contrast echocardiographic images.

Objective: Attenuation of radio frequency (RF) signals limits the use of contrast echocardiography. The harmonic-to-fundamental ratio (HFR) of the RF signals compensates for attenuation. We tested whether HFR analysis measures the left ventricular nonperfused area under simulated experimental attenuation.