Atropine as an adjunct to supine bicycle stress echocardiography: an alternative strategy to achieve target heart rate or rate pressure product.

Aims: To investigate the use of atropine to achieve target heart rate (THR) and rate pressure product (RPP) during supine bicycle exercise stress echocardiography (SBESE) to increase the number of diagnostic stress tests.

Methods And Results: Forty-four patients that were unable to achieve THR or RPP during SBESE performed to evaluate ischaemia were given 0.4-1.

Morphologic features of carcinoid heart disease as assessed by three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.

Background: Carcinoid heart disease (CHD) is a rare cause of valvular heart disease and carries a poor prognosis. CHD has a unique morphology and echocardiographic features that predominantly involve right-sided valvular structures. The diagnosis of CHD is usually made by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).