Observational study on Takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy: clinical features, diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up.

Objectives: The present study attempts to identify appropriate elements that may contribute to clarify the broad clinical features (diagnosis, care, complication and prognosis) of Takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy for improving its management.

Design Study: Observational study.

Setting: Primary level of care referred to the emergency department of Vannini Hospital, Rome, Italy.

A new variant of Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy: transient mid-ventricular ballooning.

Stress cardiomyopathy is a reversible left ventricular dysfunction precipitated by emotional stress. Affected patients are generally women, whose symptoms are similar to myocardial infarction with reversible apical dyskinesis associated with hypercontractile basal segments and no evidence for hemodynamically significant coronary arterial stenoses by angiography. We report the case of an 82-year-old woman who presented with acute onset of chest pain after emotional stress and with reversible left ventricular dysfunction consisting of akinesis of the midventricular segments and hyperkinesis of the basal and apical segments.

Identification of professional scuba divers with patent foramen ovale at risk for decompression illness.

Functional and anatomic characteristics of patent foramen ovale (PFO) were investigated in 66 professional scuba divers (41 with and 25 without decompression illness) using transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography. PFO with right-to-left shunting at rest is associated with decompression illness, particularly the neurologic type. A wider patency diameter together with a higher membrane mobility are associated with the risk of developing the disease in divers with PFO.

Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of mitral valve morphology by intraoperative volume-rendered three-dimensional echocardiography.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) performed to evaluate mitral valve anatomy during valve repair has certain limitations and pitfalls. The study aim was to assess the feasibility, accuracy and incremental value of three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE), coupled with 2DE in evaluating mitral valve structure, before and after repair and pericardial posterior annuloplasty.

Methods: The site and extent of mitral valve prolapse, systolic and diastolic changes of mitral annular area were evaluated using 2D and 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), both pre- and postoperatively in 34 patients before and after mitral valve repair and pericardial posterior annuloplasty.