Transesophageal echocardiography for coronary sinus imaging in partially unroofed coronary sinus.

Background: Partially unroofed coronary sinus (PUCS) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly and prone to be misdiagnosed. The purpose of this study was to explore the value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in CS imaging for the detection of PUCS and to develop a special two-dimensional TEE-based en face view of CS.

Methods: Twenty adult patients with suspected PUCS, showing a dilated coronary sinus and an enlarged right heart on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), underwent TEE examination.

Mutation of plakophilin-2 gene in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Background: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death. Recent studies have shown that ARVC, which is an inheritable genetic change, results from mutations in genes encoding desmosomal proteins. Plakophilin-2 is an important component of the desmosome.

[Thoracic aorta echocardiographic features of patients with bicuspid aortic valve].

Objective: To observe the thoracic aorta features in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) with echocardiography.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the echocardiographic features and clinical manifestations in 273 patients with BAV detected from 1991-04 to 2006-02.

Results: (1) Aortic dimensions of the anulus, the sinuses of valsalva, the sinotubular junction, the ascending aorta at the level of its largest diameter of 31 patients with functionally normal BAV were significantly increased compared that in control subjects (P < 0.