[Detection of patent foramen ovale. Transesophageal echocardiography and transcranial Doppler sonography with ultrasound contrast media are "supplementary, not competing, diagnostic methods"].

Background: The prevalence of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in healthy individuals is estimated to be about 25% and is elevated to 40% patients with stroke. To date transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was considered to be the most sensitive method to detect PFO and was regarded as the gold standard. Transcranial Doppler sonography of the middle cerebral artery during contrast injection (c-TCD) has recently been proposed as an alternative method for the detection of PFO.

Evaluation of the Association Between Coronary Calcification Detected by Electron Beam Computed Tomography and Atherosclerosis of Extracranial Carotid Arteries In Vivo.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between carotid and coronary atherosclerosis and their diagnostic value for predicting angiographically significant coronary artery disease (CAD). We investigated 80 subjects (mean age 55 +/- 8 years) by electron beam computed tomography (EBT), the most sensitive technology for noninvasive detection of coronary calcification (a marker of coronary atherosclerosis); by carotid sonography; and by coronary angiography. Carotid ultrasound was performed with a 7.

Non-invasive diagnosis of a congenital coronary artery fistula.

This report describes a large congenital coronary artery fistula of the left circumflex artery draining into the coronary sinus in a 46 year old woman. The fistula was initially diagnosed by cross-sectional and transesopha-geal echocardiography using multiplane probe. Additionally, the entire course of the fistula was visualised in electron beam tomography.

Platelet activation in embolic and preembolic status of patients with nonrheumatic atrial fibrillation.

Study Objective: Information on platelet activation possibly associated with a preembolic or embolic status in nonrheumatic atrial fibrillation (AF) with special regard to the role of platelet membrane activation markers (P-selectin and CD63).

Study Population: The study included 60 patients with nonrheumatic AF; 28 of them had a history of an embolic event. The age-matched control group consisted of 28 healthy subjects (13 men and 15 women).