In-hospital COVID-19 infection echocardiographic analysis: a Brazilian, tertiary single-centre experience.

Background: Information is lacking concerning in-hospital echocardiography analysis of COVID-19 infection in Brazil. We evaluated echocardiographic parameters to predict a composite endpoint of mortality, pulmonary thromboembolism or acute renal failure.

Methods: A prospective full echocardiographic study of consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19, single tertiary centre in Brazil.

Right Ventricular Systolic Function After the Cone Procedure for Ebstein's Anomaly: Comparison Between Echocardiography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance.

Although the Cone procedure has improved outcomes for patients with Ebstein´s anomaly (EA), neither RV systolic function recovery in long-term follow-up nor the best echocardiographic parameters to assess RV function are well established. Thus, we evaluated RV performance after the Cone procedure comparing two-dimensional (2DEcho) and three-dimensional (3DEcho) echocardiography to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). We assessed 27 EA patients after the Cone procedure (53% female, median age of 20 years at the procedure, median post-operative follow-up duration of 8 years).

Left Atrial Volume Determinants in Patients with Non-Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Left atrial volume (LAV) is a predictor of prognosis in patients with heart failure.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the determinants of LAV in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods: Ninety patients with DCM and left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction ≤ 0.

Caseous calcification of the mitral annulus: case report.

We present a rare case of probable caseous calcification of the mitral. This pathology is more frequently detected in asymptomatic women older than 70 years. To recognize this image is important because echocardiography is the easiest way to elucidate this diagnosis, and more importantly because this structure could be easily misdiagnosed as tumors, thrombus and vegetations, which are much more common.

Assessing prognosis of pulmonary embolism using tissue-Doppler echocardiography and brain natriuretic peptide.

Objective: To assess prognosis of pulmonary thromboembolism using tissue Doppler echocardiography and brain natriuretic peptide.

Methods: Patients aged over 18 years were evaluated within 24 hours of confirmed diagnosis (chest tomography/pulmonary scintigraphy) of pulmonary embolism using two-dimensional echocardiography and tissue Doppler for right ventricular systolic (s') velocities, strain, tissue tracking and myocardial performance index. Plasma brain natriuretic peptide was also obtained within 24 hour.

Simplified single plane echocardiography is comparable to conventional biplane two-dimensional echocardiography in the evaluation of left atrial volume: a study validated by three-dimensional echocardiography in 143 individuals.

The left atrial volume index (LAVI) is a biomarker of diastolic dysfunction and a predictor of cardiovascular events. Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is highly accurate for LAVI measurements but is not widely available. Furthermore, biplane two-dimensional echocardiography (B2DE) may occasionally not be feasible due to a suboptimal two-chamber apical view.

Criteria for mitral regurgitation classification were inadequate for dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is common in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). It is unknown whether the criteria for MR classification are inadequate for patients with DCM.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the agreement among the four most common echocardiographic methods for MR classification.

3D Echo pilot study of geometric left ventricular changes after acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Left ventricular remodeling (LVR) after AMI characterizes a factor of poor prognosis. There is little information in the literature on the LVR analyzed with three-dimensional echocardiography (3D ECHO).

Objective: To analyze, with 3D ECHO, the geometric and volumetric modifications of the left ventricle (VE) six months after AMI in patients subjected to percutaneous primary treatment.

Right ventricular abnormalities in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, described as transient regional contractile abnormalities limited to the apical and mid-segments of the left ventricle (LV), has also been reported to involve basal and/or mid LV segments (inverted Takotsubo); fewer reports, however, have addressed right ventricular (RV) dysfunction.

Aim: To assess the distribution of regional abnormalities and RV involvement in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and compare it to the literature.

Methods And Results: We evaluated 23 patients with both classical and inverted presentations (19 female, aged 64 ± 19 years), including 2 recurrences, totaling 25 episodes.

Left atrium reverse remodeling in patients with mitral valve stenosis after percutaneous valvuloplasty: a 2- and 3-dimensional echocardiographic study.

Introduction And Objectives: The left atrium is clinically relevant in patients with mitral valve stenosis. The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty on left atrium volumes and the left atrium emptying fraction in symptomatic mitral valve stenosis patients using 2-dimensional and real-time 3 -dimensional transthoracic echocardiography.

Methods: We carried out a prospective study of 28 consecutive symptomatic mitral valve stenosis patients, aged 22-72 (39 [11.

Impact of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on right ventricle performance in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, assessed by three-dimensional echocardiography.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a predictor of right ventricle (RV) impairment. However, there is scant information on the effect of OSA treatment on RV performance. We sought to evaluate the impact of OSA treatment with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device on RV volume and function, as well as on variables related to pulmonary vascular haemodynamics.

Cardiovascular profile in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for several cardiovascular conditions including increased cardiovascular mortality. It is therefore essential to know the major cardiovascular effects of sleep-disordered breathing during a clinical evaluation.

Objective: To analyze the cardiovascular characteristics of patients with OSA.

Left atrial dysfunction in chagas cardiomyopathy is more severe than in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: a study with real-time three-dimensional echocardiography.

Background: Although there is anatomopathologic evidence of atrial involvement in Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCM), the impact in left atrial (LA) function is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate LA function in patients with CCM with real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) and to compare it with patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods: A total of 30 patients with CCM, 30 patients with DCM, and 20 normal subjects used as the control group were studied.

Cysteine: a potential biomarker for obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for a number of cardiovascular conditions. Although homocysteine (Hcy) and cysteine (Cys) are regarded as cardiovascular risk factors, few studies have analyzed Hcy and Cys plasma concentrations in patients with OSA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Hcy and Cys in OSA in comparison with subjects without OSA and to determine the possible influence of obesity on these variables.

Exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias: analysis of predictive factors in a population with sleep disorders.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias induced by exercise in a population with sleep disorders and to analyze the triggering factors.

Methods: Patients were consecutively selected from the database of the Sleep Clinic of Universidade Federal de São Paulo. All subjects were submitted to basal polysomnography, blood sample collection, physical examination, 12-lead ECG, spirometry, cardiorespiratory exercise study on a treadmill, and echocardiogram.

Relation between three-dimensional and two-dimensional echocardiography and biochemical analysis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction percutaneously treated.

Objective: The prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction depends on multiple features that can demonstrate myocardial injury degree (such as serum markers of cardiac necrosis), and also on adaptive mechanisms relative to the acute event. The aim of the study was to assess the relation between biochemical and echocardiographic findings from three-dimensional echocardiographic (3D Echo) analysis and echocardiographic two-dimensional (2D Echo) left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction, submitted to primary percutaneous treatment.

Methods: A prospective study with 2D Echo and 3D Echo of 23 patients (17 males, mean age of 57 ± 13 years) with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction, primarily percutaneously treated (stent).

Real-time three-dimensional echocardiographic left ventricular systolic assessment: side-by-side comparison with 64-slice multi-detector cardiac computed tomography.

Aims: To investigate by real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE) and cardiac computed tomography (CCT) the analysis of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) and volumes.

Methods And Results: A total of 67 patients (37 males, 55 +/- 11 years) were studied prospectively by RT3DE and by 64-slice CCT. RT3DE data: LVEF ranged from 30 to 78.

Left ventricular ejection fraction and volumes as measured by 3d echocardiography and ultrafast computed tomography.

Background: Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3D-Echo) and ultrafast computed tomography (CT) are two novel methods for the analysis of LV ejection fraction and volumes.

Objective: To compare LVEF and volume measurements as obtained using RT-3D-Echo and ultrafast CT.

Methods: Thirty nine consecutive patients (27 men, mean age of 57+/-12 years) were studied using RT-3D-Echo and 64-slice ultrafast CT.

Analysis of left ventricular regional dyssynchrony: comparison between real time 3D echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging.

Background: There is a paucity of information concerning left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony assessment by real time three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography (RT3DE) versus tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).

Aims: To compare RT3DE and TDI LV dyssynchrony assessment.

Methods: A prospective study of 92 individuals (56 men, age 47 +/- 10 years), 32 with dilated cardiomyopathy (CMP), and 60 healthy individuals.

Left atrial volume and function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea assessed by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography.

Background: Studies have suggested that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) contributes to the deterioration of left ventricular diastolic function. This may lead to atrial myocardial overstretching and enlargement, which could be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate left atrial (LA) volume and function in patients with OSA compared with controls without OSA and their associations with any left ventricular diastolic abnormalities using real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE).

Ventricular dyssynchrony index: comparison with two-dimensional and three-dimensional ejection fraction.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) electromechanical coupling (synchrony) is important in the analysis of the systolic performance, especially for the indication of cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with advanced CHF.

Objective: To compare LV synchrony as analyzed by real-time three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography (ECHO) with LVEF measurements as obtained with 2D and 3D ECHO.

Methods: Prospective study of 92 individuals (56 men, 47 +/- 10 years of age), of which 60 had normal heart structure (ECHO) and ECG (N group), and 32 had dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM group).

In-hospital and late outcomes after coronary stenting in patient with unstable angina and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Sixty-one-year-old male patient with diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome and unstable angina was submitted to coronary angiography and implant of stent. His Blood cell count revealed 40,000 platelets/mm3. Coronary angiography with previous platelet transfusion showed obstruction of 80% of the right coronary artery (RCA).