Utility of Simultaneous Left Atrial Strain-Volume Relationship During Passive Leg Lift to Identify Elevated Left Ventricular Filling Pressure-A Proof-of-Concept Study.

: The assessment of left ventricular (LV) filling pressure in heart failure (HF) poses a diagnostic challenge, as HF patients may have normal LV filling pressures at rest but often display elevated LV filling pressures during exercise. Rapid preload increase during passive leg lift (PLL) may unmask HF in such challenging scenarios. We explored the dynamic interplay between simultaneous left atrial (LA) function and volume using LA strain/volume loops during rest and PLL and compared its diagnostic performance with conventional echocardiographic surrogates to detect elevated LV filling pressure.

Improved Vitamin D Status Is Associated With Lower Incidence of Stillbirth.

Background/aim: Two retrospective studies of prospective cohorts showed doubled odds of birth asphyxia among women with low plasma vitamin D levels, and another study reported a four-fold increased risk of stillbirth. It was not known whether this was related to low sun exposure or to insufficient vitamin D per se. We aimed to assess if it was due to vitamin D status.

Sun Exposure and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Follow-up Cohort Study from Southern Sweden.

Background/aim: An inverse association exists between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and both plasma vitamin D levels and sun exposure, but vitamin D supplementation does not reduce the incidence. We sought to assess whether there is a dose-dependency in the association between sun exposure and T2DM.

Patients And Methods: The melanoma in Southern Sweden (MISS) cohort is comprised of one thousand women without cancer from age groups between 25 and 64, drawn from the Southern Swedish Population Registry of 1990 by random selection.

Echocardiography in the Assessment of Heart Failure Patients.

Doppler echocardiography is the corner-stone of non-invasive investigation of patients with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure. It provides an accurate and quantitative assessment of cardiac structure and function. Furthermore, spectral Doppler measurement is an invaluable technique for estimating intracardiac pressures with their crucial value in the optimum management of heart failure patients, irrespective of ejection fraction.

Echocardiographic red flags of ATTR cardiomyopathy a single centre validation.

Aims: Echocardiography plays an important role in suspecting the presence of transthyretin cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) in patients with heart failure, based on parameters proposed as 'red flags' for the diagnosis of ATTR-CM. We aimed to validate those measurements in a group of patients with ATTR-CM including ATTRv and ATTRwt.

Methods And Results: We tested a number of echocardiographic red flags in 118 patients with confirmed diagnosis of ATTR-CM.