Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jul 2001
Case ReportsTwo- and three-dimensional echocardiographic unroofed coronary sinus.
We present the 2-dimensional findings and 3-dimensional reconstruction of images from an 18-year-old patient with unroofed coronary sinus, persistent left superior vena cava, a common atrium with levoisomerism, ventricular septal defect, and double-outlet right ventricle. The left superior vena cava showed continuity with the floor of the coronary sinus. Diagnosis of the constellation of anomalies established by transesophageal reconstruction clarified the continuity of the coronary sinus with left superior vena cava and atrial wall.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jul 2001
Clinical TrialProspective study of routine perioperative transesophageal echocardiography for elective valve replacement: clinical impact and cost-saving implications.
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is widely used during heart valve replacement operations, but its clinical impact and cost-saving profile have not been studied prospectively for this indication. We investigated the clinical benefits and cost-savings of routine TEE for elective valve replacement at a regional tertiary center. We prospectively studied 300 patients (140 men; mean age [+/-SD], 66 +/- 9 years) undergoing aortic valve, mitral valve, or double-valve replacements. ⋯ Immediate reoperation (dehisced mitral valve prosthesis) and delayed extubation (suspected obstruction of an aortic valve prosthesis) were prompted by postoperative TEE. Extending an existing TEE service to routine intraoperative use saved up to $109 (US) per patient per year. Routine intraoperative TEE can provide major clinical benefit to a small proportion of patients undergoing elective valve replacement, and this can lead to cost savings, but only if the service can be provided without major capital investment.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jul 2001
Clinical TrialMilrinone echocardiographic viability test: a pilot study.
We assessed the utility of milrinone to predict recovery of function after surgical myocardial revascularization in patients with severe baseline left ventricular systolic dysfunction caused by coronary artery disease (CAD). Prediction of viable myocardial segments that will regain function after revascularization may help in the selection of patients who will benefit from coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) as well as aid in the choice of target sites for coronary revascularization. We investigated 20 consecutive patients with CAD and left ventricular ejection fraction < or = 40% who had evidence of myocardial viability by either thallium scan or dobutamine viability test and were candidates for elective CABG. ⋯ Seventy-three segments were akinetic or dyskinetic at baseline; 46 (63.0%) of these improved with milrinone. Improvement in regional wall motion after revascularization was detected in 84.8% of the segments that improved with milrinone versus only 3.7% of the segments that did not improve with milrinone. In patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, improvement in left ventricular function (segmental wall motion and global ejection fraction) during milrinone infusion is highly predictive of improvement after CABG.