Echocardiography of the Inferior Vena Cava, Superior Vena Cava, and Coronary Sinus in Right Heart Failure.

Echocardiographic evaluation of the three major systemic venous channels that drain directly into the right atrium has hitherto received less attention than it deserves. Attention had been paid initially to inferior vena cava dilatation and lack of collapsibility (plethora) as signs of systemic venous congestion. Superior vena cava imaging has not been part of routine echographic evaluation; however, our recent observations on superior vena cava appearance by the right supraclavicular approach provide evidence that dilatation of superior vena cava correlates with that of inferior vena cava as a marker for venous congestion.

Transthoracic Echocardiographic Visualization of Calcification of the Sinotubular Ridge of the Ascending Aorta.

Calcification of the ridge between the sinus of Valsalva and the tubular segments of the ascending aorta has been documented at autopsy, but no echocardiographic description has yet been published. We describe the two-dimensional echocardiographic appearances in 33 men (mean age, 69 years). Sinotubular ridge calcification manifested as a dense small echo projecting into the aortic lumen, precisely at the junction of the sinus of Valsalva and tubular aortic segments.