Left atrial function during exercise stress echocardiography as a sign of paroxysmal/persistent atrial fibrillation.

Objective: Atrial cardiomyopathy is closely associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), and some patients exhibit no dysfunction at rest but demonstrate evident changes in left atrial (LA) function and LA volume during exercise. This study aimed to identify distinguishing signs during exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) among patients in sinus rhythm (SR), with and without history of paroxysmal/persistent AF (PAF).

Methods: A prospective cohort of 1055 patients in SR was enrolled across 12 centers.

Neonatal Nasal Obstruction: A Comprehensive Analysis of Our 20 Years' Experience.

Neonates are obligatory nasal breathers hence nasal obstruction is a very important symptom to be evaluated. Although causes can be trivial most of the time, they can be life-threatening in some. Respiratory distress immediately after birth, feeding difficulties, paradoxical cyanosis, and failure to thrive are the most evident symptoms, and determination of unilateral or bilateral involvement guides the rationale for elective or emergency intervention.

Downstream Imaging Studies Do Not Significantly Improve Outcome in Most Patients with Chest Pain Who Did Not Reach Their Target Heart Rate on a Stress ECHO Study.

Echocardiographic stress tests are often used to evaluate patients who complain of chest pain. However, some patients fail to reach the target heart rate required for the test to be conclusive (usually defined as 85% of the predicted maximal heart rate based on the patient's age) and are often sent for additional imaging tests, such as myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) or cardiac computed tomography angiography (CTA). Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of these additional tests in patients who present with chest pain but did not meet the heart rate requirements for a stress test.

Self-learning of cardiac ultrasound by medical students: can augmented online training improve and maintain manual POCUS skills over time?

Background: The use of cardiac point of care ultra-sound is rapidly growing and so is the demand for quality POCUS teaching. POCUS teaching is usually conducted in small groups requiring much space and equipment. This study attempts to test whether providing access to an E-learning module as an adjunct to a cardiac POCUS course can increase students' image acquisition skills.

A case report of rapid diagnosis of atrial-oesophageal fistula by transthoracic echocardiogram with agitated saline injection.

Background: Catheter ablation is a common treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). Atrial-oesophageal fistula (AOF) is a rare yet fatal complication of catheter ablation. Chest computed tomography (CT) is the diagnostic modality of choice but may be undiagnostic in up to 24% of cases.