Speckle tracking echocardiography-derived parameters as new prognostic markers in hypertrophic cardiomyopathies.

Aims: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathies (HCM) are caused in 30-60% of cases by mutations in cardiac sarcomere genes but can also be an expression of cardiac involvement in multi-systemic metabolic diseases, such as Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD). HCM entails a risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) of 0.9%/year and is the most common cause of SCD in young adults.

Morpho-functional cardiovascular adaptation in hypertensive patients: two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiographic study.

Background: Twenty-four-hour blood pressure (BP) variability is an important predictor of organ damage and cardiovascular events. Although epidemiological data are widely based on evaluation of office (clinic) BP, 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) accurately assess the severity of hypertension to predict cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients, because it more accurately reflects BP load on heart and blood vessels. Conventional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), such as M-mode and two-dimensional (2D), and more advanced techniques, such as tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), are used to identify pathological changes of the hypertensive heart disease.

Chemotherapy-Induced Cardiotoxicity: Subclinical Cardiac Dysfunction Evidence Using Speckle Tracking Echocardiography.

Objectives: In our study, we aimed to identify early markers of cardiac dysfunction in patients treated with mitoxantrone. We also looked at cardiac functional changes during therapy by analyzing longitudinal deformation and by measuring left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) global strain.

Materials And Methods: LA and LV global longitudinal strain were analyzed in 20 patients affected by multiple sclerosis and treated with mitoxantrone.

Left ventricular rotational dynamics in Beta thalassemia major: a speckle-tracking echocardiographic study.

Background: Iron-mediated cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of death in patients with thalassemia major (TM). The identification of subclinical cardiac involvement in the early phases of the disease is important to optimize therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to identify early markers of cardiac dysfunction through new parameters of cardiac rotational dynamics and to look for a relationship with parameters of iron overload.

Head-to-head comparison of real-time three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography with transthoracic and transesophageal two-dimensional contrast echocardiography for the detection of patent foramen ovale.

Aims: To assess the incremental value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DTE) over contrast transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), compared with contrast transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the identification of patent foramen ovale (PFO).

Methods And Results: Eighty-one consecutive patients with history of migraine headache (MH) or unexplained cerebrovascular events (CE) were examined using RT-3DTE, contrast TTE, and contrast TEE in sequence. Feasibility of RT-3DE in patients with MH and CE was 98 and 91%, respectively.

Atrial and ventricular function in thalassemic patients with supra-ventricular arrhythmias.

The aims of this study were to evaluate through Color Doppler Myocardial Imaging (CDMI) echocardiography if atrial or ventricular myocardial alterations could be detectable in patients with thalassemia major (THAL) and if these alterations could be considered as predictive elements for supra-ventricular arrhythmic events. Twenty-three patients with THAL underwent clinical and electrocardiographic evaluation; patients were grouped in THAL1 (9 with supra-ventricular arrhythmias) and THAL2 (14 without arrhythmias); 12 healthy subjects were considered as control group (C). We examined through conventional 2D Color Doppler echocardiography some morphological and functional parameters regarding left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function, and through CDMI the velocities at mitral annulus level, the regional LV and left atrial (LA) strain and strain rate.

[Myocardial strain rate in normal subjects].

Background: Strain rate (SR) is considered as an accurate index of myocardial contractility, capable of differentiating regional myocardial contractions from hypokinetic ones. It is not dependent on adjacent myocardial motion or heart translation. Clinical studies proved this method to be useful in case of heart disease but detailed analyses, homogeneous normal reference parameters, and studies about atrial myocardium are still scanty.