Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Oct 2008
Chest sonography detects lung water accumulation in healthy elite apnea divers.
Ultrasound lung comets (ULCs) detected by chest sonography are a simple, noninvasive, semiquantitative sign of increased extravascular lung water. Pulmonary edema may occur in elite apnea divers, possibly triggered by centralization of blood flow from the periphery to pulmonary vessels. We assessed the prevalence of ULCs in top-level breath-hold divers after immersion. ⋯ In top-level breath-hold divers, chest sonography frequently reveals an increased number of ULCs after immersion, indicating a relatively high prevalence of (often subclinical) reversible extravascular lung water accumulation.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Sep 2008
Case ReportsDiagnosis of proximal pulmonary embolism by transthoracic echocardiography.
To date, few cases giving detailed visual descriptions of a thrombus in the pulmonary arteries or its branches in transthoracic echocardiography have been reported. We report the case of a 67-year-old man who was admitted to a hospital emergency department with a thrombus in the right pulmonary artery diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography. The specificity of echocardiography in pulmonary embolism varies between 80% and 90% according to the series. The direct visualization of a thrombus is sometimes possible, permitting a faster diagnosis in patients with compromised hemodynamic status.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Aug 2008
Direct assessment of size and shape of noncircular vena contracta area in functional versus organic mitral regurgitation using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography.
Vena contracta width (VCW) as an estimate of effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA) is an accepted parameter of mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. However, uncertainty exists in cases in which VCW at the same time appears narrow in 4-chamber (4CH) view and broad in 2-chamber (2CH) view as common in functional MR with noncircular or slit-like regurgitant orifices. We therefore hypothesized that new real-time 3-dimensional color Doppler echocardiography (RT3DE) can be used for direct assessment of the size and shape of vena contracta area (VCA) in an en face view and to determine the potential error of conventional VCW measurement on estimation of EROA. ⋯ Direct assessment of VCA using RT3DE revealed significant asymmetry of VCA in functional MR compared with organic MR, resulting in poor estimation of EROA by single VCW measurements.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Aug 2008
Case ReportsLeft ventricular diastolic collapse and late regional cardiac tamponade postcardiac surgery caused by large left pleural effusion.
Cardiac tamponade is a well-recognized early complication (ie, within 15 days) of cardiac surgery usually a result of the development of a pericardial effusion postoperatively. However, left ventricular diastolic collapse as a result of the presence of a large pleural effusion, but in the absence of any pericardial effusion, is rare, particularly late (ie, after 15 days) after cardiac surgery. We present the echocardiographic findings of a man presenting with recurrent exertional breathlessness, after elective tissue aortic valve replacement, and demonstrate, by echocardiography, the mechanism of left ventricular diastolic collapse and late regional cardiac tamponade, after cardiac surgery, as a result of the effects of a large pleural effusion but in the absence of any pericardial effusion. We discuss and review the literature on this phenomenon.