Feasibility and safety of non-invasive ultrasound therapy (NIUT) on an porcine aortic valve.

Calcific aortic stenosis (CAS) is associated with advanced age and comorbidities, therefore a non-invasive therapy for it would be beneficial. We previously demonstrated that ultrasound therapy improved calcified bioprosthetic valve function in an open chest model. For translational applications, we tested non-invasive ultrasound therapy (NIUT) transthoracically on swine aortic valves and investigated the need for antithrombotic treatment as a follow-up.

Segmental aortic stiffness in patients with bicuspid aortic valve compared with first-degree relatives.

Aims: To compare the stiffness index in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) with first-degree relatives at each segment of the thoracic ascending aorta and to compare segmental analysis of aortic stiffness in association with BAV morphotype and function.

Methods: 219 patients with BAV and 148 first-degree relatives (without BAV) were consecutively included at a reference centre for BAV. Ultrasound assessment of aortic and carotid stiffness was based on the variation of the segmental arterial diameters during the cardiac cycle and on blood pressure.

Myocardial Stiffness Evaluation Using Noninvasive Shear Wave Imaging in Healthy and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathic Adults.

Objectives: The goal of our study was to investigate the potential of myocardial shear wave imaging (SWI) to quantify the diastolic myocardial stiffness (MS) (kPa) noninvasively in adult healthy volunteers (HVs) and its physiological variation with age, and in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) populations with heart failure and preserved ejection function (HFpEF).

Background: MS is an important prognostic and diagnostic parameter of the diastolic function. MS is affected by physiological changes but also by pathological alterations of extracellular and cellular tissues.

Usefulness of Subepicardial Hyperemia on Contrast-Enhanced First-Pass Magnetic Resonance Perfusion Imaging for Diagnosis of Acute Myocarditis.

Hyperemia is a major criterion for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging but its assessment is challenging and time consuming. We evaluated the usefulness of the contrast-enhanced first-pass perfusion (FPP) on magnetic resonance imaging for detecting subepicardial hyperemia in acute myocarditis. Forty-seven consecutive patients (mean age: 42 ± 15.

Prognostic value of the infarct- and non-infarct like patterns and cardiovascular magnetic resonance parameters on long-term outcome of patients after acute myocarditis.

Background: Prognostic value of the infarct- and non-infarct like patterns and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters on long-term outcome of patients after acute myocarditis is not well known.

Methods: Between 2006 and 2015, 112 consecutive patients with CMR-based diagnosis of acute myocarditis were identified in our institution. Of them, 88 were available for clinical follow-up and represented our studied population.