Right ventricular remodeling, its correlates, and its clinical impact in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Structural right ventricular (RV) abnormalities are present in a substantial proportion of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), but the trigger for RV hypertrophy remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between RV and left ventricular (LV) remodeling and the impact of biventricular involvement on clinical status in this setting.

Methods: Ninety-nine patients with HCM and 30 normal subjects with a similar age and gender distribution were prospectively enrolled.

Management of organic mitral regurgitation: guideline recommendations and controversies.

Mitral regurgitation (MR) represents the second most frequent valvular heart disease. The appropriate management of organic MR remains unclear in many aspects, especially in several specific clinical scenarios. This review aims to discuss the current guideline recommendations regarding the management of organic MR, while highlighting the controversial aspects encountered in daily clinical practice.

Accessory mitral valve--an unexpected intra-operative TEE finding causing left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in an adult.

There is a long-standing debate between proponents of routine intra-operative echo and those who want it restricted to selected groups of patients (such as those undergoing valve repair or correction of congenital abnormalities). We present a case where routine transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) identified completely unexpected pathology, with implications for the postoperative follow-up and for patient outcomes. A 64-year-old male, with a history of surgical repair of coarctation of the aorta in childhood, was admitted for elective valve replacement for severe aortic stenosis (AS).

Appropriateness of use criteria for transthoracic echocardiography: are they relevant outside the USA?

Background: Appropriateness of use criteria (AUC) for transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) have been developed by American cardiology associations to help avoid unnecessary scans by formalizing indications for imaging. There are 98 indications classified as either appropriate (A), inappropriate (I), or uncertain (U). AUC may allow better targeting of limited resources, but they have not been tested systematically outside the USA.

Correlation between global longitudinal strain and QRS voltage on electrocardiogram in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy.

Purpose: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is as an independent risk factor. Discrepancies were reported between LV mass (LVM) estimated by echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG) findings. We hypothesized that QRS voltage criteria may reflect not only anatomical changes (LVM) but also changes in LV function and we tested the relationship between QRS voltage and echocardiographic parameters of LV function in patients (pts) with different types of LVH.