Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Oct 2014
Comparative StudyAssessment of left ventricular volumes with echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: real-life evaluation of standard versus new semiautomatic methods.
Routine quantitative assessment of left ventricular (LV) volumes with echocardiography is hindered by time-consuming methods requiring a manual trace of the LV cavity from two apical two-dimensional planes. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate faster new semiautomatic echocardiographic methods that could represent a feasible alternative for the assessment of LV volumes and ejection fraction (EF) in clinical practice. ⋯ Good correlations between semiautomatic echocardiographic parameters for assessment of LV volumes and EF could be observed when compared with Simpson's method or CMR. However, intertechnique agreement analysis of absolute LV volumes revealed considerable differences, with significant underestimation of volumes and EF with respect to CMR.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Oct 2014
Clinical TrialEffects of age and gender on right ventricular systolic and diastolic function using two-dimensional speckle-tracking strain.
Accurate assessment of the right ventricle is increasingly important. Measures of right ventricular (RV) systolic function, including fractional area change, tissue Doppler (s' velocity), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, show significant variation, and the impacts of age and gender are unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of gender and age on global and segmental RV systolic and diastolic function using both traditional echocardiographic and two-dimensional strain parameters. ⋯ RV functional analysis by two-dimensional strain demonstrates a small yet significant change in global and segmental RV function with age and gender, and therefore adjustment for these measures is required in the evaluation of RV function.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Oct 2014
Comparative StudyPrecision of echocardiographic estimates of right atrial pressure in patients with acute decompensated heart failure.
Several methods that estimate right atrial pressure (RAP) from echocardiographic parameters have been proposed. However, their precision (i.e., how much they decrease RAP estimation uncertainty) is unknown. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate and compare the precision of previously proposed RAP estimates in patients with acute decompensated heart failure. ⋯ In patients with advanced heart failure, echocardiographic RAP prediction methods showed only modest precision. Furthermore, none of the tested methods resulted in clinically relevant improvements of RAP estimates. Estimating RAP from a single IVCd measurement is at least as precise as using complex prediction methods.