Role of Global Longitudinal Strain in the Prediction of Outcome in Patients With Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis.

In the present study, we assessed the role of Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) as a predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis (AS), irrespective of their type of treatment. Data of 807 patients with AS receiving complete echocardiographic and clinical examination were retrospectively analyzed. Valve area <1 cm and sufficient image quality were inclusion criteria; patients with severe concomitant valvulopathy were excluded.

The septal bulge--an early echocardiographic sign in hypertensive heart disease.

Patients in the early stage of hypertensive heart disease tend to have normal echocardiographic findings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether pathology-specific echocardiographic morphologic and functional parameters can help to detect subclinical hypertensive heart disease. One hundred ten consecutive patients without a history and medication for arterial hypertension (AH) or other cardiac diseases were enrolled.

Impact of monitoring longitudinal systolic strain changes during serial echocardiography on outcome in patients with AL amyloidosis.

Relative apical sparing of longitudinal systolic strain (LSsys) with preserved LSsys at apical and significantly reduced LSsys at mid/basal segments is a typical echocardiographic feature in AL amyloidosis patients with cardiac involvement. The present study aims to evaluate the change of this typical feature over time by serial echocardiography and its impact on outcome in AL amyloidosis patients with cardiac involvement. Echocardiography was performed in 24 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven AL amyloidosis (mean age 64 ± 9 years; 50% male) at baseline and during a median of 257 (quartiles 103-651) days follow-up.

Long term evolution of magnetic resonance imaging characteristics in a case of atypical left lateral wall hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

We are reporting a long-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up in a rare case of cardiac left lateral wall hypertrophy. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic cardiovascular disorder and a significant cause of sudden cardiac death. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging can be a valuable tool for assessment of detailed information on size, localization, and tissue characteristics of hypertrophied myocardium.

Predictive value of assessing diastolic strain rate on survival in cardiac amyloidosis patients with preserved ejection fraction.

Objectives: Since diastolic abnormalities are typical findings of cardiac amyloidosis (CA), we hypothesized that speckle-tracking-imaging (STI) derived longitudinal early diastolic strain rate (LSRdias) could predict outcome in CA patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF >50%).

Background: Diastolic abnormalities including altered early filling are typical findings and are related to outcome in CA patients. Reduced longitudinal systolic strain (LSsys) assessed by STI predicts increased mortality in CA patients.