Updated knowledge and practical implementations of stress echocardiography in ischemic and non-ischemic cardiac diseases: An expert consensus of the Working Group of Echocardiography of the Hellenic Society of Cardiology.

Stress echocardiography (SE) is a well established and valid technique, widely used for the diagnostic evaluation of patients with ischemic and nonischemic cardiac diseases. This statement of the Echocardiography Working Group of the Hellenic Society of Cardiology summarizes the consensus of the writing group regarding the applications of SE, based on the expertise of their members and on a critical review of present medical literature. The main objectives of the consensus document include a comprehensive review of SE methodology and training-which focus on the preparation, the protocols used, the analysis of the SE images, and updated, evidence-based knowledge about SE applications on ischemic and nonischemic heart diseases, such as in cardiomyopathies, heart failure, and valvular heart disease.

Congenital Coronary Artery Anomalies: Three Cases and Brief Review of the Literature.

Coronary artery anomalies (CAAs) are congenital vascular defects which can remain hidden and asymptomatic over the complete life course of an individual. They are defined as deviations from the normal coronary anatomy regarding the arterial origin, course, or both. Their incidence varies from 1.

Cardiovascular disease in women: Executive summary of the expert panel statement of women in cardiology of the hellenic cardiological society.

The perception that women represent a low-risk population for cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) needs to be reconsidered. Starting from risk factors, women are more likely to be susceptible to unhealthy behaviors and risk factors that have different impact on CV morbidity and mortality as compared to men. Despite the large body of evidence as regards the effect of lifestyle factors on the CVD onset, the gender-specific effect of traditional and non-traditional risk factors on the prognosis of patients with already established CVD has not been well investigated and understood.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography is highly accurate for the prediction of contractile reserve in the early postoperative period, but may underestimate late recovery in contractile reserve after revascularization of the hibernating myocardium.

Objective: We sought to investigate the accuracy of dobutamine stress echocardiography to predict the degree and timing of recovery in resting function and contractile reserve (CR) after revascularization of the hibernating myocardium.

Methods: In all, 24 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ejection fraction < 40%) underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography 1 week before and 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Results: Recovery rates at 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months postoperation were 21%, 33%, and 45% (P < .

QT dispersion is determined by the relative extent of normal, hibernating, and scarred myocardium in patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. A dobutamine stress echocardiography study before and after surgical revascularization.

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to evaluate a possible association between QT dispersion (QTd) and the amount of viable and scarred myocardial tissue after revascularization in patients with coronary artery disease and impaired left ventricular (LV) function.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with ischemic LV dysfunction underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) before and 6 months after surgical revascularization. Mean corrected QT-interval value and QTd were calculated at baseline and follow-up.

Usefulness of low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography for the evaluation of spontaneous recovery of stunned myocardium in patients with acute right ventricular infarction.

Right ventricular (RV) infarction (RVI) is usually associated with severe RV global dysfunction representing predominantly stunned myocardium that may respond favorably to reperfusion. We assessed the efficacy of low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE), performed early in the course of a reperfused RVI, to predict the recovery of RV systolic and diastolic function in 3 months, documenting the recovery of stunned myocardium. In all, 27 patients with acute, successfully thrombolyzed RVI comprised the study population.

Evidence of left ventricular dysfunction in asymptomatic elderly patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a distinct entity in diabetic patients with congestive heart failure, who have no angiographic evidence of significant coronary artery stenosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function in 24 elderly patients (mean age 67 +/- 2 years) with type 2 diabetes, who were asymptomatic and had no history of hypertension, or coronary or valvular heart disease. LV systolic indices (ejection fraction [EF] and fractional shortening [FS]), diastolic indices (E wave, A wave, E/A ratio, isovolumic relaxation time [IVRT] and deceleration time [DT]) and the myocardial performance index (MPI) were evaluated with echocardiography.

Echocardiographic evaluation of spontaneous recovery of right ventricular systolic and diastolic function in patients with acute right ventricular infarction associated with posterior wall left ventricular infarction.

We evaluated right ventricular (RV) systolic and diastolic function in 30 patients with acute RV myocardial infarction on echocardiography. Systolic and diastolic function were impaired early in the setting of RV myocardial infarction, but improved significantly at 3 months.

Evaluation of a Doppler-derived index combining systolic and diastolic left ventricular function in acute myocardial infarction.

Assessment of left ventricular (LV) function is crucial in the immediate postinfarction period. The authors evaluated the clinical applicability of the Doppler-derived myocardial performance index (MPI, defined as the sum of isovolumic contraction and relaxation times divided by LV ejection time) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as to whether this index reflects the severity of LV dysfunction in this subgroup of patients. Post-AMI patients (n = 33) were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy subjects (n = 35).