Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jun 2008
Comparative StudyOptimal noninvasive assessment of diastolic heart failure in patients with atrial fibrillation: comparison of tissue doppler echocardiography, left atrium size, and brain natriuretic peptide.
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the ratio of early diastolic transmitral velocity to early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E/E') can be applied to identify diastolic heart failure (HF) noninvasively rather than using brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) or enlargement of left atrium (LA) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) by comparing the severity of HF symptoms. Moreover, we investigated the relationship between the changes in E/E' and the severity of HF or LA remodeling in the follow-up period. ⋯ E/E' could be useful in identifying symptomatic diastolic HF and evaluating the functional state in the process of HF in patients with AF. Moreover, E/E' is able to assess the improvement of diastolic HF in AF.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jun 2008
Case ReportsTransesophageal echocardiography diagnosis of extracardiac left ventricular assist device inflow cannula obstruction in a patient with thoratec intracorporeal ventricular assist device biventricular support.
Ventricular assist device support for heart failure has gained popularity as both a bridge to heart transplantation and as destination therapy. Early device malfunction is unusual and can be caused by several distinct mechanisms. We present the first reported case of echocardiographic diagnosis of extracardiac cannula obstruction leading to biventricular assist device failure.