Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · May 2007
ReviewLeft ventricular form and function revisited: applied translational science to cardiovascular ultrasound imaging.
Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) and DTI-derived strain imaging are robust physiologic tools used for the noninvasive assessment of regional myocardial function. As a result of high temporal and spatial resolution, regional function can be assessed for each phase of the cardiac cycle and within the transmural layers of the myocardial wall. ⋯ The data are, however, limited. This review examines the structure and function of the left ventricle relative to the potential clinical application of DTI and speckle tracking in assessing the global mechanical sequence of the left ventricle in vivo.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · May 2007
Case ReportsAorta-right atrial fistula: a rare complication of prosthetic aortic valvular endocarditis.
Aortic root abscess is a well-known complication of aortic valve endocarditis but intracardiac fistulas are rarely seen. This report describes a patient with prosthetic valve endocarditis who had an aortic root abscess that ruptured into the right atrium creating an aortic-right atrial fistula and causing a highly mobile vegetative mass in the right atrium.