The assessment of reliability and validity of the Thai Versions of the Thirst Distress Scale for patients with Heart Failure and the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire in heart failure patients.

Background: Heart failure (HF) patients can experience poor appetite and intense thirst. The Thirst Distress Scale for HF (TDS-HF) and the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) are tools used to assess these symptoms. However, these questionnaires are not currently available in Thai.

Reassessing heart failure therapy in Thailand: Patient insights and treatment outcomes from the Thai heart failure registry.

Background: This research analyzed the demographics, management, and outcomes of patients with heart failure (HF) in Thailand.

Methods: The Thai Heart Failure Registry prospectively enrolled patients diagnosed with HF from 36 hospitals in Thailand. Follow-up data were recorded at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months.

Effects of Buddhist walking meditation on exercise capacity and quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Buddhist walking meditation (BWM) is widely practiced in many countries. However, there is a lack of evidence relating to its effectiveness for patients with heart failure (HF).

Purpose: To determine the effects of a six-week BWM program on exercise capacity, quality of life, and hemodynamic response in patients with chronic HF.

Cardiovascular impact in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis: Clinical management considerations.

Patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis develop both structural and functional cardiovascular abnormalities. Despite improvement of dialysis technology, cardiovascular mortality of this population remains high. The pathophysiological mechanisms of these changes are complex and not well understood.

Pericardiectomy is Associated with Improvement in Longitudinal Displacement of Left Ventricular Free Wall Due to Increased Counterclockwise Septal-to-Lateral Rotational Displacement.

Background: Pericardiectomy is an effective intervention for constrictive pericarditis. Speckle-tracking echocardiography can provide quantitative information not only about longitudinal strain (LS) but about longitudinal displacement (LD) and septal-to-lateral rotational displacement (SLRD). The aim of this study was to investigate whether pericardiectomy improves myocardial mechanics using speckle-tracking analysis.

Impact of long-axis function on cardiac surgical outcomes in patients with radiation-associated heart disease.

Background: Malignancy-associated thoracic radiation leads to radiation-associated cardiac disease (RACD) that often necessitates cardiac surgery. Myocardial dysfunction is common in patients with RACD. We sought to determine the predictive value of global left ventricular ejection fraction and long-axis function left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS) in such patients.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography during follow-up surveillance in heart transplant patients: Diagnostic accuracy and predictors of outcomes.

Background: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), a major cause of graft failure and mortality at >3 years after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT), is commonly evaluated using dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). We sought to study: (a) the incidence of positive results and diagnostic accuracy of DSE; and (b) the predictors of adverse outcomes in OHT patients.

Methods: We studied 497 consecutive patients (63 ± 10 years, 78% men) with OHT who had undergone DSE as part of routine surveillance at our center between 1998 and 2013.

Left atrial volume as an independent predictor of exercise capacity in patients with isolated diastolic dysfunction presented with exertional dyspnea.

Background: Left atrial volume (LAV) and exercise capacity are important prognostic determinants of cardiovascular risk. Exercise intolerance and increased LAV are expected in patients with diastolic dysfunction. While dyspnea is the symptom reported by the patient and considered subjective, exercise capacity obtained by exercise testing provides an objective measure of cardiovascular fitness.

Quantitative measurement of mitral regurgitation: comparison between echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Background And Objective: Echocardiography is usually performed to quantify the severity of regurgitation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can also quantify mitral regurgitation. This study was performed to determine whether MRI can reliably quantify the severity of mitral regurgitation when compared with echocardiography

Material And Method: The authors retrospectively studied patients who underwent cardiac MRI between January 2008 and January 2011.

Comparison of aortic diameter in normal subjects and patients with systemic hypertension.

Background: Standard aortic root dimensional measurement by the two dimensional echocardiography should be routinely performed in all patients. There is limited data on the normal reference on Thai population.

Objective: Aims of this study were (1) to determine the normal reference of aortic root dimension in Thai population and (2) to determine the difference in the aortic root size in patients with hypertension comparing with normal population.

Patients with non-sT-segment elevation myocardial infarction present with more severe systolic and diastolic dysfunction than patients with unstable angina.

Background: Patients with non ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS) present with diverse clinical, electrocardiographic, cardiac biomarker, echocardiographic and angiographic characteristics. We sought to determine whether there was any difference in the indices of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function among subgroups of patients with NSTEACS.

Material And Method: We studied 121 consecutive patients (mean age 68.