Relationship Between Results of Pathological Evaluation of Endomyocardial Biopsy and Echocardiographic Indices in Patients With Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is a useful modality in diagnosing the origin of cardiomyopathy and the condition of the impaired myocardium. However, the usefulness of obtaining an EMB from the right and left ventricles (RV and LV, respectively), and its associations with echocardiographic parameters, have not been explored. Ninety-five consecutive patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy excluding myocarditis who underwent EMB between July 2017 and May 2019 were studied.

Transcranial Doppler for stratification of high-risk morphology of patent foramen ovale in patients with cryptogenic stroke.

Microbubble testing using transcranial Doppler (TCD) is an important screening tool for diagnosing paradoxical cerebral embolism with high-risk PFO. However, little is known about the association between the microbubble test by TCD and the features of high-risk PFO evaluated by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). We studied 101 consecutive patients at Showa University, from April 2019 to October 2020, who underwent both TCD and TEE with a sufficient Valsalva maneuver and who were strongly suspected by neurologists as cryptogenic stroke.

Right ventricular contractility affects the clinical efficacy of add-on tolvaptan following hospitalization for heart failure in patients with significant tricuspid regurgitation.

Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a common condition that is independently associated with high mortality rates in patients with heart failure (HF). Several studies have demonstrated the clinical efficacy of add-on tolvaptan in patients hospitalized for HF. However, the effects of add-on tolvaptan in patients with significant TR are less well understood.