Indian heart journal
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Indian heart journal · Jul 2009
Review Meta AnalysisEffects of aspiration thrombectomy on mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention: a meta-analysis of the randomized trials.
Thrombus removal using aspiration-thrombectomy (AT) may improve outcomes in Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). We performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials evaluating AT during primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) to determine its impact on mortality and morbidity. ⋯ In primary PCI, the addition of AT reduces both mortality and recurrent ischemic events at follow up. These benefits are associated with improved early infarct-related artery patency.
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Indian heart journal · Jul 2009
Transesophageal echocardiographic evaluation of atrial septal defects--how to explore the third dimension?
One of the recurring themes in the field of echocardiography is the fallacies inherent in exploring cardiac structures in two dimensions because they essentially exist in three dimensions. Attempts to overcome this limitation of echocardiography led to the evolution of echocardiography from the era of unidirectional M-Mode echocardiography to present day advent of three dimensional echocardiography. ⋯ One of the important uses of three dimensional transesophageal echocardiography is evaluation of atrial septal defects, where two dimensional echocardiography is known to have led to serious errors in assessment of the defect and three dimensional imaging from the transthoracic approach may not be possible in adults due to poor echo window. Present article suggests a uniform approach to evaluate the atrial septal defects in three dimensions by integrating relevant anatomical concepts with technique of three dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.