Relationship of ventricular and atrial dilatation to valvular function in endurance athletes.

Objective: To establish cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reference values for atrial adaptation to training in endurance athletes in comparison with matched non-athletes. In addition, to study the relationship of atrial size to ventricular and annular size and valvular function.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Relationship between vasospasm, cerebral perfusion, and delayed cerebral ischemia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Introduction: Vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is thought to cause ischemia. To evaluate the contribution of vasospasm to delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), we investigated the effect of vasospasm on cerebral perfusion and the relationship of vasospasm with DCI.

Methods: We studied 37 consecutive SAH patients with CT angiography (CTA) and CT perfusion (CTP) on admission and within 14 days after admission or at time of clinical deterioration.

Relation of common carotid intima-media thickness with left ventricular mass caused by shared risk factors for hypertrophy.

Background: It is unclear whether the relationship between common carotid intima-media thickness (cCIMT) and left ventricular mass (LVM) is due to shared risk factors for atherosclerosis or for hypertrophy.

Methods: In 525 hypertensive subjects at high cardiovascular risk, the relation of cCIMT to LVM and established vascular risk factors was studied.

Results: CCIMT was positively related to LVM.

Echocardiographic tissue deformation imaging of right ventricular systolic function in endurance athletes.

Aims: To investigate the physiological adaptation of the right ventricle (RV) in response to endurance training and to define reference values for regional deformation in the RV in endurance athletes.

Methods And Results: Healthy controls (n = 61), athletes (n = 58), and elite athletes (n = 63) were prospectively enrolled with a training intensity of 2.2 +/- 1.

Configuration of the circle of Willis, direction of flow, and shape of the aneurysm as risk factors for rupture of intracranial aneurysms.

Background: Improved knowledge on risk factors for rupture of intracranial aneurysms may lead to more tailored aneurysm management. We studied whether configuration of the circle of Willis, direction of flow towards the aneurysm, and shape of the aneurysm are risk factors for rupture.

Methods: We reviewed CT angiograms of 126 patients with 75 ruptured and 75 unruptured aneurysms, matched for site of the aneurysm, gender and age of the patient, and year of CT angiogram.

Unrecognised myocardial infarction in subjects at high vascular risk: prevalence and determinants.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and determinants of unrecognised myocardial infarction (UMI).

Design, Setting, Patients: In this cross-sectional study in a tertiary centre, a delayed enhancement cardiac MRI (DE-CMR), which identifies both Q-wave and non-Q wave MIs, was performed in 502 subjects with manifest extracardiac atherosclerotic disease or marked risk factors for atherosclerosis without symptomatic coronary artery disease.

Main Outcome Measures: UMI was defined as the presence of delayed enhancement without corresponding clinical history.

Echocardiographic deformation imaging reveals preserved regional systolic function in endurance athletes with left ventricular hypertrophy.

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is often observed in athletes, which should be differentiated from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The aim of the study was to explore the functional changes measured using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) deformation analysis in athletes fulfilling LVH criteria participating in different endurance sports.

Methods: Healthy controls (n = 62, 58% men) and endurance athletes (n = 120, 62% men) aged 18-40 years were prospectively enrolled and underwent both standard echocardiography as well as TDI.

MR angiography follow-up 5 years after coiling: frequency of new aneurysms and enlargement of untreated aneurysms.

Background And Purpose: Patients with intracranial aneurysms are at risk for future development of new aneurysms and growth of additional untreated aneurysms. Because in previous long-term studies duration of follow-up varied widely, the time interval after which screening could be effective remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of de novo aneurysm formation and the growth of additional untreated aneurysms in patients with coiled aneurysms followed up with MR angiography (MRA) after a fixed period of 5 years.

Differences in determinants of left ventricular mass assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging across subjects with and without previous symptomatic atherosclerotic disease.

Background: Most previous studies on determinants of left ventricular (LV) mass have used echocardiography, which is less accurate than cardiac MRI (CMR). Furthermore, studies that used CMR to study the determinants of LV mass were performed in the general population. However, determinants may differ between those with and without previous symptomatic events.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging to identify left-sided chronic heart failure in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Although cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is well established, its diagnostic accuracy in identifying chronic heart failure (CHF) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not yet been quantified.

Methods: Participants were recruited from a cohort of 405 patients aged >or=65 years, with mild to moderate and stable COPD. In this population, 83 (20.

Non-invasive cardiac assessment in high risk patients (The GROUND study): rationale, objectives and design of a multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disease associated with a considerably increased risk of future cardiovascular events and most of these patients will die from coronary artery disease (CAD). Screening for silent CAD has become an option with recent non-invasive developments in CT (computed tomography)-angiography and MR (magnetic resonance) stress testing. Screening in combination with more aggressive treatment may improve prognosis.

Stability of intracranial aneurysms adequately occluded 6 months after coiling: a 3T MR angiography multicenter long-term follow-up study.

Background And Purpose: The long-term fate of coiled intracranial aneurysms is largely unknown, and prolonged imaging follow-up has been advocated. The yield of follow-up imaging in coiled aneurysms adequately occluded at 6 months is unknown. In such patients, we performed time-of-flight MR angiography (MRA) to assess the incidence and therapeutic consequences of reopening 5-11 years after coiling.

Global and focal cerebral perfusion after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in relation with delayed cerebral ischemia.

Introduction: The pathogenesis of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is unclear. We assessed whether DCI relates to focal or global cerebral perfusion on admission and on follow-up imaging.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-seven SAH patients underwent computed tomography (CT) perfusion (CTP) on admission and at clinical deterioration or 1 week after admission in clinically stable patients.

Configuration of intracranial arteries and development of aneurysms: a follow-up study.

Background: The reasons for development of intracranial aneurysms are unknown; hemodynamic factors may play an important role in this process. We performed a cohort study to further elicit the role of intracranial arterial geometry.

Methods: We compared the original CTA/MRA of the circle of Willis of 26 patients who developed an aneurysm during follow-up with those of 78 controls with no aneurysm development who were matched for gender, age, and period of follow-up.

Peri-coronary epicardial adipose tissue is related to cardiovascular risk factors and coronary artery calcification in post-menopausal women.

Aims: To determine whether peri-coronary epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is associated with vascular risk factors and coronary atherosclerosis.

Methods And Results: In this study, 573 healthy post-menopausal women underwent a cardiac CT scan to assess coronary calcification. Peri-coronary EAT thickness was measured in the areas of right coronary artery (RCA), left anterior descending (LAD) artery, and left circumflex (LCX) coronary artery.

Rationale and design of the SMART Heart study: A prediction model for left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension.

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent risk factor for the development of heart failure, coronary heart disease and stroke. LVH develops in response to haemodynamic overload, e.g.

Reversible 18-FDG-uptake defects on myocardial PET: Is this myocardial resurrection?

Because it can accurately detect preserved glucose metabolism even in the hypoperfused or stunned myocardium, 18-FDG-PET is considered as the gold standard of myocardial viability assessment. In tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy, a presumed condition of stunning, absence of glucose metabolism however is not a marker of death. This sheds a critical light on 18-FDG-PET as a gold standard for viability.

Reproducibility of quantitative CT brain perfusion measurements in patients with symptomatic unilateral carotid artery stenosis.

Background And Purpose: To establish intraobserver and interobserver variability for regional measurement of CT brain perfusion (CTP) and to determine whether reproducibility can be improved by calculating perfusion ratios.

Materials And Methods: CTP images were acquired in 20 patients with unilateral symptomatic carotid artery stenosis (CAS). We manually drew regions of interest (ROIs) in the cortical flow territories of the anterior (ACA), middle (MCA), and posterior (PCA) cerebral arteries and the basal ganglia in each hemisphere; recorded cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and mean transit time (MTT); and calculated ratios of perfusion values between symptomatic and asymptomatic hemisphere.

Do magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound add anything to the preoperative workup of parotid gland tumors?

Purpose: To assess the additional value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US) to physical examination (PE) and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the preoperative determination of the location and histology of parotid gland tumors.

Patients And Methods: Prospectively, 99 patients with 77 benign and 22 malignant lesions were included; 82 underwent parotidectomy. FNAC was performed in 88 patients.

[A combined protocol using CT, CT perfusion and CT angiography for the evaluation of cerebral ischemia].

Computed tomography (CT) is a widely available, rapid and readily accessible technique for imaging of the brain by means of which other disorders, such as haemorrhage, can be excluded in patients with the signs of an acute cerebral infarction. Recently, CT perfusion and CT angiography have become available for this clinical application. These investigations can be performed in the same session as conventional CT, without significant delay.

Circle of Willis at CT angiography: dose reduction and image quality--reducing tube voltage and increasing tube current settings.

Purpose: To prospectively assess the effects of lower tube voltage and various effective tube currents on image quality for computed tomographic (CT) angiography of the circle of Willis.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained. Patients or family provided written informed consent.

Anatomic variations in the circle of Willis in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis assessed with multidetector row CT angiography.

Purpose: To assess the presence of anterior and posterior collateral pathways in the circle of Willis in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis (SCAS) and to compare this to patients without carotid artery stenosis.

Materials And Methods: Multislice CT angiography was performed in 91 patients and 91 control subjects. Using consensus reading, 2 observers evaluated the presence and diameter of the anterior communicating artery (AcomA), the A1 segments of the anterior cerebral arteries, the posterior communicating arteries (PcomA) and the P1 segments of the posterior cerebral arteries.

Multislice computed tomography angiography screening for new aneurysms in patients with previously clip-treated intracranial aneurysms: Feasibility, positive predictive value, and interobserver agreement.

Object: Multislice computed tomography (CT) angiography may be useful for screening patients with intracranial aneurysms that are treated with clip occlusion. However, cobalt clips produce much more artifact on CT scans than titanium clips, which may hamper the evaluation of the image obtained at the clip site.

Methods: The authors screened 415 patients with previously ruptured aneurysms that had been treated using cobalt clips.

Relation between size of aneurysms and risk of rebleeding in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Background And Purpose: Few risk factors have been identified for rebleeding in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. We studied whether size of aneurysm after rupture is a risk factor for rebleeding. Since intracranial aneurysms develop during life and may therefore be larger at an older age, we also assessed whether age confounds a relation between size and rebleeding.