Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Feb 2014
Systemic venous diameters, collapsibility indices, and right atrial measurements in normal pediatric subjects.
Compromise of right heart function is an important feature of many forms of congenital heart disease, and right atrial (RA) pressure is clinically relevant. Inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and inspiratory collapse are indices of RA pressure, but pediatric data are lacking. ⋯ Measurement of systemic venous diameters, collapsibility indices, and RA volumes is feasible in healthy children and adolescents. Venous diameters increase predictably with growth and so must be interpreted in light of body surface area. IVCCIs and hepatic venous filling fraction compare closely with those reported in adults. Pediatric nomograms for these parameters are provided, and they should next be evaluated for relation to directly measured RA pressure in this age group.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Feb 2014
Controlled Clinical TrialEarly changes in apical rotation in genotype positive children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutations without hypertrophic changes on two-dimensional imaging.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common form of inherited cardiomyopathy. Echocardiography is the mainstay of screening and disease surveillance, and genetic testing has identified a carrier population without hypertrophy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in left ventricular (LV) function are detectable before the advent of hypertrophy. ⋯ Increased LV rotation and twist are present in children with genotype-positive, phenotype-negative HCM. Apical rotation on speckle-tracking echocardiography provides good sensitivity and specificity for the prediction of gene-positive HCM and may be a clinically useful early marker of HCM before the onset of hypertrophy.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jan 2014
Right ventricular myocardial performance index derived from tissue Doppler echocardiography is useful in differentiating apical ballooning syndrome from cardiomyopathy due to left anterior descending coronary artery disease.
Apical ballooning syndrome (ABS) and obstructive coronary artery disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) can both result in similar left ventricular apical wall motion abnormalities. The right ventricle may more likely be involved in ABS, and its careful evaluation may help differentiate the two conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the roles of echocardiographic measures of right ventricular (RV) function, namely, Doppler tissue imaging-derived RV index of myocardial performance (RIMP), RV basal free wall systolic excursion velocity (RV S'), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, in differentiating ABS from obstructive LAD disease. ⋯ Doppler tissue imaging-derived RIMP may help differentiate ABS from obstructive LAD disease with high accuracy. This easily obtainable measurement may offer a noninvasive tool to differentiate these two conditions.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jan 2014
Aortic root geometry in patients with aortic stenosis assessed by real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.
The authors hypothesized that aortic root geometry is different between bicuspid and tricuspid aortic stenosis (AS) that can be assessed using real-time three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography. The aims of this study were (1) to validate the accuracy of 3D transesophageal echocardiographic measurements of the aortic root against multidetector computed tomography as a reference, (2) to determine the difference of aortic root geometry between patients with tricuspid and bicuspid AS, and (3) to assess its impact on pressure recovery. ⋯ Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography successfully revealed different aortic root morphologies between tricuspid and bicuspid AS, which have different impacts on pressure recovery.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jan 2014
Mitral inflow patterns after MitraClip implantation at rest and during exercise.
MitraClip implantation reduces mitral regurgitation effectively but decreases mitral valve area, creating iatrogenic mitral stenosis. Evaluation with transesophageal echocardiography intraprocedurally is necessary to measure mitral regurgitation and mitral valve pressure gradient (MVPG) to determine whether it is necessary and safe to place more clips. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these intraprocedural hemodynamics represent postprocedural measurements and whether exercise is affected by the stenosis. ⋯ Mean MVPG during MitraClip implantation measured by TEE underestimates the hemodynamics in daily life, of which operators should be aware when deciding on placing one or more clips. Pressure half-time seems to be the most robust parameter compared with mean and maximum MVPG and may contribute to this decision. Patients with higher mean MVPGs after MitraClip implantation have higher sPAPs at follow-up. However, more symptoms of heart failure were not detected at follow-up.