Usefulness of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic imaging for evaluating narrowing in the coronary arteries.

Coronary artery (CA) imaging has relied on invasive techniques for diagnosing stenotic lesions. Two-dimensional techniques are limited in obtaining optimal longitudinal views of all segments of the CA because of their spatial orientations. Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) may produce any desired cross-sectional views and reconstruct 3-dimensional images from a volumetric data set.

Secundum atrial septal defect is a dynamic three-dimensional entity.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic relevance of 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography in the assessment of secundum atrial septum defect (ASD2).

Methods And Results: Twenty-three patients (age 2 to 58 years) with an ASD2 were studied by transthoracic (n = 9) or transesophageal (n = 14) echocardiography for the acquisition of a 3D data set before undergoing surgical repair. Qualitative (location, shape, and structure) and quantitative (largest and smallest anteroposterior and superoinferior diameters) characteristics were analyzed and compared with surgical findings.

A structural modeling analysis of anxiety and depression in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a model generating approach.

The present study is a longitudinal study designed to explore structural relationships between anxiety, depression, personality, and background factors (e.g., gender, age, and complicated medical characteristics) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Intracranial high-intensity transient signals after homograft or mechanical aortic valve replacement.

Objective: Comparison of the occurrence, intensity and rate of high-intensity transient signals (HITS), measured in both middle cerebral arteries by transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) after mechanical or homograft aortic valve implantation.

Experimental Design: TCD monitoring was performed by means of a pulsed Doppler ultrasound with two 2 MHz probes, stabilized on the head and directed at the middle cerebral artery.

Setting: Outdoor patients after aortic valve replacement in a university hospital.

Gradient echo MRI for measurement of the pulmonary autograft diameter after transplantation to the aortic root: validation and comparison with ultrasound.

The purpose of this study was to s the value of MRI for measurement of pulmonary autograft diameters after transplantation to the aortic root in adults. Thirty-eight adults underwent this operation. MRI and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were performed in 30 and 27 patients, respectively, after a mean follow-up period of 2.