Zeitschrift für Kardiologie
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Comparative Study
[Augmented reality in echocardiography. A new method of computer-assisted training and image processing using virtual and real three-dimensional data sets].
Augmented reality (AR) applications link real with virtual image data, in order to increase their information content. In medicine they are especially useful for education and for supporting the interpretation of three-dimensional (3D) image data. Simulators are used to train risky or expensive procedures. ⋯ The analysis of 3D echocardiographic data has to be done during a post processing. Defining the exact position of a cutting plane within the volume is difficult due to the lack of a standardized representation, the independence of the cutting plane of any transducer position and the possibility to calculate an indefinite number of views. The simultaneous representation of the current cutting plane both in the volume data, and in the heart model enables the examiner ad hoc to recognize it's position and the visualized structures.
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Presently, there are no well-defined standards for documentation of echocardiographic studies. Nevertheless, standards are essential to provide comparability of data and to realize electronic communication, both essential for quality management in echocardiography. ⋯ Additionally, a prototype of a user-oriented software based on this data set is presented. The complete data set for transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography and the software prototype can be downloaded at http:@echo.ma.uni-heidelberg.de.
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Case Reports Comparative Study
[Congenital tubular supravalvular aortic stenosis with massive coronary artery dilatation in a 35-year-old man].
Supravalvular aortic stenosis is a rare cause of left ventricular outflow obstruction in adults. It occurs as an isolated defect sporadically or on a hereditary basis with an autosomal dominant trait without further phenotypical anomalies, or as part of the Williams syndrome with mental retardation and multiple other anomalies. This lesion was proved to result from a defect of the elastin coding gene. ⋯ The coronary arteries are subject to an increased perfusion pressure leading to dilatation, tortuosity and accelerated arteriosclerosis. We give details of a 35-year-old patient in whom a previously asymptomatic supravalvular aortic stenosis is associated with an excessive dilatation of the right coronary artery and the left anterior descending coronary artery as well as an ostium stenosis of the left common carotid artery. The patient did not present any phenotypical anomalies of the Williams syndrome.