Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Sep 2007
Real-time 3-dimensional color Doppler flow of mitral and tricuspid regurgitation: feasibility and initial quantitative comparison with 2-dimensional methods.
Visualization of valvular regurgitation using 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography has been attempted but not routinely performed to date because of technical limitations. With the recent development of a fully sampled matrix-array probe, real-time color flow imaging allows display and analysis of regurgitant jets. Accordingly, the aim of this study was 2-fold. We: (1) investigated the feasibility of transthoracic, real-time visualization of 3D color flow jets; and (2) compared conventional 2-dimensional (2D) Doppler/color flow methods of quantitation (ie, 2D jet/left atrial [LA] area, flow convergence, and vena contracta [VC]) to 3D-derived measurements (3D jet/LA volume, flow convergence, and VC). ⋯ Three-dimensional echocardiography of color flow Doppler of MR and TR jets was feasible. Quantitative methods using 3D echocardiography such as MR and TR volumes correlated well with 2D flow convergence methods. TR VC has more of an elliptic shape, whereas MR is more circular or oval when visualized in 3D. Regurgitant/atrial volume ratios provide a new method of assessing the severity of regurgitant lesions; however, 3D volume-derived ratios were comparatively smaller than those measured with 2D echocardiography.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Aug 2007
Three-dimensional echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular volume and function in pediatric patients: validation of the technique.
The right ventricle (RV) is the main ventricular chamber in many congenital heart diseases before and after surgical correction, and it is the most important determinant of outcome in postoperative tetralogy of Fallot and other complex malformations. Unfortunately its irregular crescentic shape does not allow the use of the geometric assumption used for the left ventricle. Many methods have been suggested in the literature to overcome this problem, none fully reliable. ⋯ The coefficient of repeatability was 4.79 mL with all the values within this range (2 SD of the mean). We conclude that 3DE provides an accurate measurement of RV volume in pediatric patients with RV volume overload. It is a reliable, noninvasive, and nongeometric method of evaluation of the volume of this chamber, and can be considered a precious tool in the armamentarium of the pediatric cardiologist.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Aug 2007
Case ReportsLeft valsalva sinus aneurysm rupture into left atrium and aortic valve prolapse confirmed with transesophageal echocardiography.
We report a very rare case of left Valsalva sinus aneurysm rupture into left atrium in a 55-year-old man with severe aortic regurgitation caused by aortic valve prolapse. The Valsalva sinus aneurysm rupture was clearly visualized with transesophageal echocardiography performed to further delineate the aortic valve pathology. The 3-dimensional reconstruction of multislice computed tomography images nicely visualized the left Valsalva sinus aneurysm.