Clinical experience with amrinone in patients with advanced congestive heart failure.

To examine the efficacy of chronic amrinone therapy, the drug was administered to 12 patients with advanced congestive heart failure on average for 27.9 days. The majority of patients had a persistent increase in cardiac index and a persistent decrease in systemic vascular resistance.

Detection of tricuspid regurgitation and estimation of central venous pressure by two-dimensional contrast echocardiography of the right superior hepatic vein.

Two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) was utilized to visualize the right superior hepatic vein (RSHV) for detection of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and estimation of central venous pressure (CVP). Patients were divided into two groups. Eighteen patients were placed in group I on the basis of typical clinical features of TR (five patients) or 2DE contrast evidence of TR (13 patients).

Two-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of electrocardiographic criteria for right atrial enlargement.

Right atrial (RA) size was determined with two-dimensional echocardiography using the apical four-chamber view in 45 adult patients with various echocardiographic criteria for RA enlargement and in 25 normal controls. RA size varied from 11.4-24.