[Echocardiographic detection of wedged emboli in the right heart in patients with pulmonary embolisms].

The authors describe two case-histories of patients with the clinical picture of pulmonary embolism where on echocardiography a mobile formation in the right atrium was detected. In both patients the embolus of peripheral origin wedged in the right atrium was removed by surgery.

[Contralateral asynergy after myocardial infarct].

The purpose of the work was to assess whether during several years of echocardiographic follow-up of patients after myocardial infarction later contralateral asynergy develops (i.e. asynergy of another coronary vessel than that which supplies the area of the infarction) and what are the clinical symptoms associated with its development.

[Are there abnormalities of parathormone, calcium and phosphorus metabolism in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?].

The importance of calcium and phosphorus metabolism for the development of hypertrophic cardiomyopathies is still obscure. Therefore 52 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were subjected to detailed cardiological and laboratory examinations. Twenty-five age matched healthy subjects served as controls.

[Myocardial infarct. Results and tactics in reperfusion therapy].

In a group comprising a total of 217 patients with a recent myocardial infarction, who were treated with streptokinase the authors provided evidence that early recanalization of the coronary occlusion occurred after superselective intracoronary administration in 81 and 83% of the patients. After intravenous streptokinase administration they recorded early recanalization in 62%. They found a significant diminution of the infarction focus and improved left ventricular function, as compared with patients treated in the "classical" way by antiarrhythmic drugs, beta-blockers and vasodilatating drugs.

[The importance of the determination of primary bile acids in diseases of the digestive tract].

The authors assessed the concentration of primary bile acids in patients with liver diseases, diseases of the gallbladder and biliary pathways, with affections of the pancreas and in a control group. Primary bile acids and their conjugated derivatives were assessed by radioimmunoanalysis from the patients' serum, using radiodiagnostic sets of Farmos Co. Finland.

[Initial experience with liposuction].

The principle of the method of liposuction is based on the reduction of circumscribed excessive subcutaneous adipose tissue by means of highly efficient pumps and special cannulas by means of which the tissue is dilacerated and sucked up. Administration of hyaluronidase facilitates the operation. The very good final effect depends above all on the selection of patients for the operation, its precise implementation and several weeks' bandaging of the operated area.

[Unstable angina pectoris--pathogenesis and therapy].

Unstable angina pectoris is a clinical syndrome characterized as a rule as rapid deterioration of angina or newly developed angina pectoris. The authors examined 30 patients with unstable angina pectoris who were admitted to hospital within 24 hours after the attack. Coronarography was performed on average after 14.

[Relation between disorders of cardiac rhythm to the symptomatology and extent of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].

The aim of the work was a more detailed characteristic of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who are threatened by an increased risk of serious disorders of the cardiac rhythm and thus probably also by sudden death. The authors analyzed a group of 64 patients subjected to 24-hour monitoring of the ECG by the Holter system. The patients were subjected to echocardiographic examination and the distribution of the myocardial hypertrophy was described in detail, incl.

[Disorders of heart rhythm in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].

In 64 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy 24-hour Holter monitoring of the ECG was made in order to detect the incidence of individual disorders of the cardiac rhythm. The examination revealed a large number of potentially malignant ventricular arrhythmias (47% of the patients). Most frequently polytopic ventricular extrasystoles were involved (31.

Electrocardiographic changes can precede the development of myocardial hypertrophy in the setting of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

A comparison was made of electrocardiographic findings in 107 first-degree relatives of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy without any clinical and echocardiographic signs of the disease and 188 healthy persons with a negative family history. A significantly larger number of electrocardiographic signs of left ventricular hypertrophy (P less than 0.05) and abnormal Q wave (P less than 0.

Cardiac rhythm disorders in various types of hypertrophic cardiomyopathies.

The aim of the study was to provide a detailed characterization of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who are at increased risk of severe cardiac rhythm disorders and, thus, also sudden death. The group, made up of 64 patients, was subjected to 24-hour ECG Holter monitoring. The patients were examined by echocardiography and myocardial hypertrophy distribution was studied in detail.

Severe diffuse hypokinesis of the remote myocardium--the main cause of cardiogenic shock? An echocardiographic study of 75 patients with extremely large myocardial infarctions.

Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed in 75 patients with extensive myocardial infarctions to prove why cardiogenic shock develops only in a minority of such patients. 23 patients with clinical signs of shock formed group A, and 52 patients without signs of shock group B. The extent of akinesis and/or dyskinesis was the same in both groups.

Myocardial contrast echocardiography. A review of clinical studies.

A review is presented of to date published studies devoted to contrast echocardiography of the myocardium and covering a total of 169 patients. No complications occurred during investigations; slight transient ECG and haemodynamic changes of less than 30 s duration were not as pronounced as during coronary arteriography. Intracoronary administration of a 3-4 ml solution containing microbubles close to erythrocyte size leads to opacification of the perfused part of the myocardium in echocardiographic image, whereas the echogenity of nonperfused parts remains unchanged.

The picture of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the elderly.

The aim of the study was to analyse the findings obtained in 27 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who lived to be 60 and more. Elderly patients are, more frequently than younger ones, women, mostly with a negative family history (81% vs. 30% in younger patients), with a lower incidence of syncope (11% vs.

Clinical findings in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and their relationship to the disease severity.

The clinical and electrocardiographic findings of 82 patients presenting with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were compared with the distribution and extent of myocardial hypertrophy. The clinical and ECG signs did not depend on either the presence or the degree of the obstruction. Subjective complaints (with the exception of dypnoea) were not related to the value of myocardial thickness but they correlated with the square extent of the area affected by hypertrophy of the myocardium.

Myocardial contrast echocardiography: a new method for the evaluation of regional myocardial blood flow.

Myocardial contrast echocardiography is a new method enabling detailed evaluation of blood flow distribution within the myocardium. It is performed by means of intracoronary injection of small volumes of carrier solutions containing small microbubbles of a size similar to that of red blood cells. The perfused myocardium opacifies densely, while the ultrasonic backscatter of nonperfused areas does not change.

Autoantibodies in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and their clinical significance.

Data concerning autoantibodies in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are rare and controversial and only the results of indirect immunofluorescence methods are available in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and clinical significance of autoantibodies in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by means of the Western blot which is a highly sensitive immunological technique. Sera from twelve (48.