Three-dimensional echocardiography to identify right ventricular dilatation in patients with corrected Fallot anomaly or pulmonary stenosis.

Background: 3-Dimensional Echocardiography allows measuring volumes and parameters of myocardial deformation (strain). Myocardial strain has been suggested to be superior to conventional echo parameters in the assessment of right ventricular (RV) function. Myocardial strain can be assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) or two- and three-dimensional echocardiography (2D and 3DEcho).

Afterload dependence of right ventricular myocardial deformation: A comparison between tetralogy of Fallot and atrially corrected transposition of the great arteries in adult patients.

Background: Prior studies suggested that myocardial deformation is superior to conventional measures for assessing ventricular function. This study aimed to evaluate right ventricular (RV) myocardial deformation in response to increased afterload. Patients with the RV in the systemic position were compared with patients with the RV in the sub-pulmonic position with normal or only slightly elevated systolic right ventricular pressure.

Knowledge-based 3D reconstruction of the right ventricle: comparison with cardiac magnetic resonance in adults with congenital heart disease.

Aim: Assessment of right ventricular (RV) function is a challenge, especially in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). The aim of the present study is to assess whether knowledge-based RV reconstruction, used in the everyday practice of an echo-lab for adult CHD in a tertiary referral center, is accurate when compared to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) examination.

Subjects And Methods: Adult patients who would undergo CMR for assessment of the RV were asked to undergo an echo of the heart for further knowledge-based reconstruction (KBR).

Inflammatory Characteristics of Stenotic Aortic Valves: A Comparison between Rheumatic and Nonrheumatic Aortic Stenosis.

Background. Although our comprehension of nonrheumatic aortic stenosis (NRAS) has increased substantially during the last decade, less is known about the histopathology of rheumatic aortic stenosis (RAS). The aim of this study was to investigate rheumatic aortic stenosis by means of analyses previously used in nonrheumatic stenosis.

Echo-guided presentation of the aortic valve minimises contrast exposure in transcatheter valve recipients.

Objectives: We have developed a method using transthoracic echocardiography in establishing optimal visualization of the aortic root, to reduce the amount of contrast medium used in each patient.

Background: During transcatheter aortic valve implantation, it is necessary to obtain an optimal fluoroscopic projection for deployment of the valve showing the aortic ostium with the three cusps aligned in the beam direction. This may require repeat aortic root angiograms at this stage of the procedure with a high amount of contrast medium with a risk of detrimental influence on renal function.

Role of inflammation in nonrheumatic, regurgitant heart valve disease. A comparative, descriptive study regarding apolipoproteins and inflammatory cells in nonrheumatic heart valve disease.

Background: Nonrheumatic aortic stenosis is the predominant cause of heart valve surgery in the Western world. Aortic and mitral regurgitation account for a lesser amount of the heart valve surgery. During the 1990s, inflammatory cell infiltrates have been demonstrated in nonrheumatic stenotic aortic valves.