Feasibility and Diagnostic Potential of Pulmonary Transit Time Measurement by Contrast Echocardiography: A Pilot Study.

Aims: Pulmonary transit time (PTT; the time for ultrasound contrast to travel from the right ventricle [RV] to the left atrium) may provide a single metric that reports on cardiopulmonary function while overcoming some of the challenges of standard echocardiographic measures. We conducted a pilot study to test the feasibility and reproducibility of echocardiographically derived PTT and to determine its association with established measures of cardiopulmonary function.

Methods And Results: A total of 39 patients receiving clinically indicated ultrasound contrast were prospectively enrolled.

Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography for the Bedside Assessment of Viability Following a Motor Vehicle Accident and Subsequent Myocardial Infarction: A Case Report.

The authors describe a case of a critically ill patient presenting after motor vehicle trauma complicated by anterior myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock. Assessment of myocardial viability in the territory of a critically stenosed left anterior descending artery (LAD) was necessary to determine the optimal management strategy. Bedside dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) demonstrated viability in the LAD territory and the patient underwent uncomplicated single-vessel bypass surgery with subsequent improvement in left-ventricular function.

The safety of deFinity and Optison for ultrasound image enhancement: a retrospective analysis of 78,383 administered contrast doses.

Background: The purpose of this retrospective analysis was to define the incidence of severe adverse events after exposure to ultrasound contrast agents.

Methods: Data between January 1, 2001, and September 30, 2007, were collected using invited responses to an on-line web-based questionnaire from 1 general and 12 cardiac ultrasound laboratories. During a period of 4.

Quill: a novel approach to structured reporting.

The authors will demonstrate Quill (QUestions and Information Logically Linked), a comprehensive structured reporting environment for ambulatory care that was developed at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. A notes capture tool was sought with the immediate hope of decreasing or eliminating transcription costs (currently around $6M/yr) and paper based processing while providing a foundation for decision support and research in the future.