Revista española de cardiología (English ed.)
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Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed) · Aug 2014
Normal left ventricular mechanics by two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography. Reference values in healthy adults.
Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography is a novel tool to assess myocardial function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate left ventricular myocardial strain and rotation parameters by two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in a large group of healthy adults across a wide age range to establish their reference values and to assess the influence of age, sex, and hemodynamic factors. ⋯ We report the comprehensive assessment of normal myocardial deformation and rotational mechanics in a large cohort of healthy volunteers. We found that women have more negative longitudinal strain, accounting for their higher left ventricular ejection fraction. Availability of reference values for these parameters may foster their implementation in the clinical routine.
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Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed) · Apr 2014
Multicenter StudyEfficacy of an integrated hospital-primary care program for heart failure: a population-based analysis of 56,742 patients.
The efficacy of heart failure programs has been demonstrated in clinical trials but their applicability in the real world practice setting is more controversial. This study evaluates the feasibility and efficacy of an integrated hospital-primary care program for the management of patients with heart failure in an integrated health area covering a population of 309,345. ⋯ The implementation of multidisciplinary heart failure management programs that integrate the hospital and the community is feasible and is associated with a significant reduction in patient morbidity and mortality.