Echocardiographic right ventricular function assessment before and after successful percutaneous mitral commissurotomy.

Background And Aim Of The Study: In patients with mitral stenosis (MS), previous studies have shown discordant results with regards to improvements in right ventricular (RV) function immediately after percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC). Hence, the study aim was to evaluate the impact of PMC on RV function, by using Doppler-echocardiography.

Methods: A total of 41 patients with severe symptomatic MS, in sinus rhythm, who had been referred to the authors' institution for PMC, was prospectively enrolled.

Aortic root dilatation in young patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale.

Background: No previous study has looked for an association between aortic dilatation and the clinical sequelae of patent foramen ovale (PFO), although a possible relationship has been identified in case reports.

Aim: To compare aortic dimensions in patients with symptomatic PFO and healthy controls.

Methods: Forty-seven patients were identified who presented with cryptogenic cerebrovascular accident (CVA) assessed as most likely secondary to PFO (confirmed by contrast study), were aged less than 50 years and underwent percutaneous PFO closure.

Radiotherapy-induced mitral stenosis: a three-dimensional perspective.

Mediastinal irradiation for cancers, mainly breast cancer and Hodgkin's disease, has numerous potential adverse effects, including coronary artery disease, pericarditis, cardiomyopathy, valvular disease, and conduction abnormalities. The prevalence of valvular dysfunction is relatively low, and regurgitation is more common. We report the case of a 58-year-old woman with severe radiation-induced mitral stenosis and discuss the potential additional value of three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.

[Acute myocardial infarction--a possible complication in polycythemia vera. Case report].

A 66-year-old woman with Polycythemia Vera suffered an postero-inferior acute myocardial infarction: this is a relative rare association. The association between primary coronary angioplasty with stent implantation and anti-aggregant and myelosuppressive treatment was followed by important clinical benefits for the patient. To our knowledge, there are rare reports in the literature relating the triad of Polycythemia Vera, acute myocardial infarction and primary coronary angioplasty with stent implantation.