Articles

Realization of fully automated quantification of left ventricular volumes and systolic function using transthoracic 3D echocardiography

Study on automated three-dimensional (3D) quantification of left heart parameters by using Heartmodel software is still in the early stage and fully automatic analysis was not clearly achieved. The aim of our ...

Authors: Lina Sun, Haiyan Feng, Lujia Ni, Hui Wang and Dongmei Gao

3D vena contracta area after MitraClip© procedure: precise quantification of residual mitral regurgitation and identification of prognostic information

Percutaneous mitral valve repair (PMVR) is increasingly performed in patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR). Post-procedural MR grading is challenging and an unsettled issue. We hypothesised that the d...

Authors: Alexander Dietl, Christine Prieschenk, Franziska Eckert, Christoph Birner, Andreas Luchner, Lars S. Maier and Stefan Buchner

Energetic performance analysis of staged palliative surgery in tricuspid atresia using vector flow mapping

Staged palliative surgery markedly shifts the balance of volume load on a single ventricle and pulmonary vascular bed. Blalock-Taussig shunt necessitates a single ventricle eject blood to both the systemic and...

Authors: Mao Kinoshita, Koichi Akiyama, Keiichi Itatani, Ayahiro Yamashita, Maki Ishii, Atsushi Kainuma, Yoshinobu Maeda, Takako Miyazaki, Masaaki Yamagishi and Teiji Sawa

Multi-modality imaging evaluation of recurrent Tako-tsubo syndrome in a patient with coronary artery fibromuscular dysplasia

Integrated bedside and sophisticated cardiac imaging techniques help characterize the discrepancy between myocardial injury and mechanic dysfunction in acute myocardial infarction.

Authors: Yun Cheng, Chenying Lu and Kan Liu

Comparison of strain parameters in dyssynchronous heart failure between speckle tracking echocardiography vendor systems

Although mechanical dyssynchrony parameters derived by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) may predict response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), comparability of parameters derived with differen...

Authors: Wouter M. van Everdingen, Alexander H. Maass, Kevin Vernooy, Mathias Meine, Cornelis P. Allaart, Frederik J. De Lange, Arco J. Teske, Bastiaan Geelhoed, Michiel Rienstra, Isabelle C. Van Gelder, Marc A. Vos and Maarten J. Cramer

Troponin as ischemic biomarker is related with all three echocardiographic risk factors for sudden death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ESC Guidelines 2014)

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk stratification is the most important preventive action in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The identification of the ischemia biomarker high sensitive troponin I...

Authors: Rafał Hładij, Renata Rajtar-Salwa and Paweł Petkow Dimitrow

Could the use of bedside lung ultrasound reduce the number of chest x-rays in the intensive care unit?

Lung ultrasound can be used as an alternative to chest radiography (CXR) for the diagnosis and follow-up of various lung diseases in the intensive care unit (ICU). Our aim was to evaluate the influence that in...

Authors: Etrusca Brogi, Elena Bignami, Anna Sidoti, Mohammed Shawar, Luna Gargani, Luigi Vetrugno, Giovanni Volpicelli and Francesco Forfori

The impact of preload on 3-dimensional deformation parameters: principal strain, twist and torsion

Strain analysis is feasible using three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography. This approach provides various parameters based on speckle tracking analysis from one full-volume image of the left ventricle; however...

Authors: Hyo-Suk Ahn, Yong-Kyun Kim, Ho Chul Song, Euy Jin Choi, Gee-Hee Kim, Jung Sun Cho, Sang-Hyun Ihm, Hee-Yeol Kim, Chan Seok Park and Ho-Joong Youn

Preoperative single ventricle function determines early outcome after second-stage palliation of single ventricle heart

Second-stage palliation with hemi-Fontan or bidirectional Glenn procedures has improved the outcomes of patients treated for single-ventricle heart disease. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze...

Authors: Jacek Pająk, Michał Buczyński, Piotr Stanek, Grzegorz Zalewski, Marek Wites, Lesław Szydłowski, Bogusław Mazurek and Lidia Tomkiewicz-Pająk

Myocardial performance index in female athletes

Long-term intensive training leads to morphological and mechanical changes in the heart generally known as “athlete’s heart”. Previous studies have suggested that the diastolic and systolic function of the ven...

Authors: Zahraa Alsafi, Andreas Malmgren, Petri Gudmundsson, Martin Stagmo and Magnus Dencker

Carotid plaque rather than intima-media thickness as a predictor of recurrent vascular events in patients with acute ischemic stroke

To investigate the impacts of carotid plaque and intima-media thickness (IMT) on future vascular events (VEs) in the patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Authors: Hyun Ju Yoon, Kye Hun Kim, Hyukjin Park, Jae Yeong Cho, Young Joon Hong, Hyung Wook Park, Ju Han Kim, Youngkeun Ahn, Myung Ho Jeong, Jeong Gwan Cho and Jong Chun Park

Left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral outperforms ejection fraction and Doppler-derived cardiac output for predicting outcomes in a select advanced heart failure cohort

Left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral (LVOT VTI) is a measure of cardiac systolic function and cardiac output. Heart failure patients with low cardiac output are known to have poor cardiovascul...

Authors: Christina Tan, David Rubenson, Ajay Srivastava, Rajeev Mohan, Michael R. Smith, Kristen Billick, Samuel Bardarian and J. Thomas Heywood

Prenatal screening of fetal ventriculoarterial connections: benefits of 4D technique in fetal heart imaging

Identification of prenatal ventriculoarterial connections in fetuses with conotruncal anomalies (CTA) remains one of the greatest challenges for sonographers performing screening examinations. Herein, we propo...

Authors: Yu Wang, Miao Fan, Faiza Amber Siddiqui, Meilian Wang, Wei Sun, Xue Sun, Wenjia Lei and Ying Zhang

Diagnostic performance of multi-organ ultrasound with pocket-sized device in the management of acute dyspnea

The availability of ultra-miniaturized pocket ultrasound devices (PUD) adds diagnostic power to the clinical examination. Information on accuracy of ultrasound with handheld units in immediate differential dia...

Authors: Alfonso Sforza, Costantino Mancusi, Maria Viviana Carlino, Agostino Buonauro, Marco Barozzi, Giuseppe Romano, Sossio Serra and Giovanni de Simone

Pilot study using 3D–longitudinal strain computation in a multi-parametric approach for best selecting responders to cardiac resynchronization therapy

Almost all attempts to improve patient selection for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) using echo-derived indices have failed so far. We sought to assess: the performance of homemade software for the aut...

Authors: Maxime Fournet, Anne Bernard, Sylvestre Marechaux, Elena Galli, Raphael Martins, Philippe Mabo, J. Claude Daubert, Christophe Leclercq, Alfredo Hernandez and Erwan Donal

Investigation on left ventricular multi-directional deformation in patients of hypertension with different LVEF

This study is aimed at investigating myocardial multi-directional systolic deformation in hypertensive with different left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and exploring its contribution to LVEF.

Authors: Huimei Huang, Qinyun Ruan, Meiyan Lin, Lei Yan, Chunyan Huang and Liyun Fu

Feasibility and relevance of compound strain imaging in non-stenotic arteries: comparison between individuals with cardiovascular diseases and healthy controls

Compound strain imaging is a novel method to noninvasively evaluate arterial wall deformation which has recently shown to enable differentiation between fibrous and (fibro-)atheromatous plaques in patients wit...

Authors: Martijn F.H. Maessen, Thijs M.H. Eijsvogels, Ayla Grotens, Maria T.E. Hopman, Dick H.J. Thijssen and Hendrik H.G. Hansen

Different determinants of exercise capacity in HFpEF compared to HFrEF

Quality of life is as important as survival in heart failure (HF) patients. Controversies exist with regards to echocardiographic determinants of exercise capacity in HF, particularly in patients with preserve...

Authors: Arlind Batalli, Pranvera Ibrahimi, Ibadete Bytyçi, Artan Ahmeti, Edmond Haliti, Shpend Elezi, Michael Y. Henein and Gani Bajraktari

Cardiac shock-wave therapy in the treatment of coronary artery disease: systematic review and meta-analysis

To systematically review currently available cardiac shock-wave therapy (CSWT) studies in humans and perform meta-analysis regarding anti-anginal efficacy of CSWT.

Authors: Greta Burneikaitė, Evgeny Shkolnik, Jelena Čelutkienė, Gitana Zuozienė, Irena Butkuvienė, Birutė Petrauskienė, Pranas Šerpytis, Aleksandras Laucevičius and Amir Lerman

Effect of food intake on myocardial performance index

Myocardial performance index (MPI) has been investigated in a variety of populations, but the effect of food intake has not been evaluated. We assessed whether myocardial performance index is affected by food ...

Authors: Ylva Gårdinger, Anna Dieden, Joanna Hlebowicz, Ola Björgell and Magnus Dencker

Definition of common carotid wall thickness affects risk classification in relation to degree of internal carotid artery stenosis: the Plaque At RISK (PARISK) study

Mean or maximal intima-media thickness (IMT) is commonly used as surrogate endpoint in intervention studies. However, the effect of normalization by surrounding or median IMT or by diameter is unknown. In addi...

Authors: J Steinbuch, AC van Dijk, FHBM Schreuder, MTB Truijman, J Hendrikse, PJ Nederkoorn, A van der Lugt, E Hermeling, APG Hoeks and WH Mess

Quantification of the relative contribution of the different right ventricular wall motion components to right ventricular ejection fraction: the ReVISION method

Three major mechanisms contribute to right ventricular (RV) pump function: (i) shortening of the longitudinal axis with traction of the tricuspid annulus towards the apex; (ii) inward movement of the RV free w...

Authors: Bálint Lakatos, Zoltán Tősér, Márton Tokodi, Alexandra Doronina, Annamária Kosztin, Denisa Muraru, Luigi P. Badano, Attila Kovács and Béla Merkely

The clinical use of stress echocardiography in ischemic heart disease

Stress echocardiography is an established technique for the assessment of extent and severity of coronary artery disease. The combination of echocardiography with a physical, pharmacological or electrical stre...

Authors: Rosa Sicari and Lauro Cortigiani

Left Ventricular global longitudinal strain predicts heart failure readmission in acute decompensated heart failure

The goal of this study was to determine if left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) predicts heart failure (HF) readmission in patients with acute decompensated heart failure.

Authors: Simone Romano, Ibrahim N. Mansour, Mayank Kansal, Hana Gheith, Zachary Dowdy, Carolyn A. Dickens, Cassandra Buto-Colletti, June M. Chae, Hussam H. Saleh and Thomas D. Stamos

Erratum to: Modified mallampati classification in determining the success of unsedated transesophageal echocardiography procedure in patients with heart disease: simple but efficient

Authors: Jureerat Khongkaew, Dujdao Sahasthas, Tharrittawadha Potat and Phatchara Thammawirat

Right ventricular ejection fraction measurements using two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography by applying an ellipsoid model

There is today no established approach to estimate right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) using 2D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The aim of this study was to evaluate a new method for RVEF calculat...

Authors: Stina Jorstig, Micael Waldenborg, Mats Lidén and Per Thunberg

Stress echo 2020: the international stress echo study in ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease

Stress echocardiography (SE) has an established role in evidence-based guidelines, but recently its breadth and variety of applications have extended well beyond coronary artery disease (CAD). We lack a prospe...

Authors: Eugenio Picano, Quirino Ciampi, Rodolfo Citro, Antonello D’Andrea, Maria Chiara Scali, Lauro Cortigiani, Iacopo Olivotto, Fabio Mori, Maurizio Galderisi, Marco Fabio Costantino, Lorenza Pratali, Giovanni Di Salvo, Eduardo Bossone, Francesco Ferrara, Luna Gargani, Fausto Rigo…

Identification of the main determinants of abdominal aorta size: a screening by Pocket Size Imaging Device

Ultrasound exam as a screening test for abdominal aorta (AA) can visualize the aorta in 99% of patients and has a sensitivity and specificity approaching 100% in screening settings for aortic aneurysm. Pocket ...

Authors: Roberta Esposito, Federica Ilardi, Vincenzo Schiano Lomoriello, Regina Sorrentino, Vincenzo Sellitto, Giuseppe Giugliano, Giovanni Esposito, Bruno Trimarco and Maurizio Galderisi

Accuracy of echocardiographic area-length method in chronic myocardial infarction: comparison with cardiac CT in pigs

We evaluated echocardiographic area-length methods to measure left ventricle (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) in parasternal short axis views in comparison with cardiac computed tomography (CT) in pigs ...

Authors: Haitham Ballo, Miikka Tarkia, Matti Haavisto, Christoffer Stark, Marjatta Strandberg, Tommi Vähäsilta, Virva Saunavaara, Tuula Tolvanen, Mika Teräs, Ville-Veikko Hynninen, Timo Savunen, Anne Roivainen, Juhani Knuuti and Antti Saraste

Effects of nitroglycerine on coronary flow velocity before and during adenosine provocation

Transthoracic echocardiography-assessed coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) evaluates coronary microvascular arterial function. Coronary flow velocity measurements at baseline and during hyperemia are used t...

Authors: Ann Wittfeldt, Anders Jeppsson and Li-Ming Gan

Geographical predisposition influences on the distribution and tissue characterisation of eccentric coronary plaques in non-branching coronary arteries: cross-sectional study of coronary plaques analysed by intravascular ultrasound

We investigated the influence of geographical predisposition on the spatial distribution and composition of coronary plaques.

Authors: Hidenori Komiyama, Hitoshi Takano, Shunichi Nakamura, Masamichi Takano, Noritake Hata, Miyauchi Yasushi, Yoshihiko Seino, Kyoichi Mizuno and Wataru Shimizu

Left ventricular remodeling and the athlete’s heart, irrespective of quality load training

Regular physical exercise determines a progressive increase of the cardiac mass known as adaptive hypertrophy. Up to now, two morphological echocardiographic heart patterns of athletes have been described by M...

Authors: Giorgio Galanti, Laura Stefani, Gabriele Mascherini, Valentina Di Tante and Loira Toncelli

Quantitative evaluation of longitudinal strain in layer-specific myocardium during normal pregnancy in China

The myocardial wall of the left ventricle is a complex, multilayered structure and is not homogenous. The aim of this study was to determine longitudinal strain (LS) in the three myocardial layers in normal pr...

Authors: Juan Cong, Zhibin Wang, Hong Jin, Wugang Wang, Kun Gong, Yuanyuan Meng and Yong Lee

Clinical and echocardiographic predictors of mortality in acute pulmonary embolism

The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of adding quantitative assessments of cardiac function from echocardiography to clinical factors in predicting the outcome of patients with acute pulmonary emb...

Authors: Talal Dahhan, Irfan Siddiqui, Victor F. Tapson, Eric J. Velazquez, Stephanie Sun, Clemontina A. Davenport, Zainab Samad and Sudarshan Rajagopal

Left ventricular diastolic function is strongly correlated with active emptying of the left atrium: a novel analysis using three-dimensional echocardiography

Increased left atrial (LA) dimensions are known to be a risk factor in predicting cardiovascular events and mortality and to be one key diagnostic tool to assess diastolic dysfunction. Currently, LA measuremen...

Authors: Johannes Scherr, Philip Jung, Tibor Schuster, Lars Pollmer, Gert Eisele, Franz Goss, Jens Schneider and Martin Halle

Modified mallampati classification in determining the success of unsedated transesophageal echocardiography procedure in patients with heart disease: simple but efficient

The transesophageal echocardiograhpy (TEE) has been studied worldwide. However, identifying additional factors on top of operator's experience and patient's cooperation which could influence the success of the...

Authors: Jureerat Khongkaew, Dujdao Sahasthas, Tharrittawadha Potat and Phatchara Thammawirat

Total average diastolic longitudinal displacement by colour tissue doppler imaging as an assessment of diastolic function

The current method for a non-invasive assessment of diastolic dysfunction is complex with the use of algorithms of many different echocardiographic parameters. Total average diastolic longitudinal displacement...

Authors: Martina Chantal de Knegt, Tor Biering-Sørensen, Peter Søgaard, Jacob Sivertsen, Jan Skov Jensen and Rasmus Møgelvang

Does the internal jugular vein affect the elasticity of the common carotid artery?

Arterial stiffness is an early marker of atherosclerosis. The carotid arteries are easily accessible by ultrasound and are commonly used for the evaluation of atherosclerosis development. However, this stiffne...

Authors: Michał Podgórski, Monika Winnicka, Michał Polguj, Piotr Grzelak, Maciej Łukaszewski and Ludomir Stefańczyk

Erratum to: ‘Modified transesophageal echocardiography of the dissected thoracic aorta; a novel diagnostic approach’

Authors: Wouter W. Jansen Klomp, Linda M. Peelen, George J. Brandon Bravo Bruinsma, Arnoud W. J. van’t Hof, Jan G. Grandjean and Arno P. Nierich

Noninvasive assessment of pulmonary arterial capacitance by pulmonary annular motion velocity in children with ventricular septal defect

We hypothesized that longitudinal pulmonary arterial deformation during the cardiac cycle reflects pulmonary arterial capacitance. To examine this hypothesis, we assessed whether tissue Doppler-derived pulmona...

Authors: Yasunobu Hayabuchi, Akemi Ono, Yukako Homma and Shoji Kagami

Limitations and difficulties of echocardiographic short-axis assessment of paravalvular leakage after corevalve transcatheter aortic valve implantation

To make assessment of paravalvular aortic leakage (PVL) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) more uniform the second Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC) recently updated the echocardiogra...

Authors: Marcel L. Geleijnse, Luigi F. M. Di Martino, Wim B. Vletter, Ben Ren, Tjebbe W. Galema, Nicolas M. Van Mieghem, Peter P. T. de Jaegere and Osama I. I. Soliman

Rotational method simplifies 3-dimensional measurement of left atrial appendage dimensions during transesophageal echocardiography

Not all echo laboratories have the capability of measuring direct online 3D images, but do have the capability of turning 3D images into 2D ones “online” for bedside measurements. Thus, we hypothesized that a ...

Authors: Chaim Yosefy, Yulia Azhibekov, Boris Brodkin, Vladimir Khalameizer, Amos Katz and Avishag Laish-Farkash

Prognostic value of new left atrial volume index severity partition cutoffs after cardiac rehabilitation program in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Previous studies showed that left atrial enlargement is an independent marker of adverse outcomes in both primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention. However, no data are available on long-term outcomes i...

Authors: Davide Lazzeroni, Nicola Gaibazzi, Matteo Bini, Giacomo Bussolati, Umberto Camaiora, Roberto Cassi, Simone Geroldi, Pietro Tito Ugolotti, Lorenzo Brambilla, Valerio Brambilla, Paolo Castiglioni and Paolo Coruzzi

Evaluation of left atrial function in patients with iron-deficiency anemia by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography

Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is a global health problem and a common medical condition that can be seen in everyday clinical practice. And two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) has been re...

Authors: Jiaqi Shen, Qiao Zhou, Yue Liu, Runlan Luo, Bijun Tan and Guangsen Li

The efficacy of sonographic measurement of inferior vena cava diameter as an estimate of central venous pressure

Central venous pressure (CVP) and right atrial pressure (RAP) are important parameters in the complete hemodynamic assessment of a patient. Sonographic measurement of the inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter is a...

Authors: William Ciozda, Ilan Kedan, Devin W. Kehl, Raymond Zimmer, Raj Khandwalla and Asher Kimchi

Three-dimensional dynamic morphology of the mitral valve in different forms of mitral valve prolapse – potential implications for annuloplasty ring selection

Real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography has increased our understanding of the distinct pathomechanisms underlying functional, ischaemic or degenerative mitral regurgitation. However, pote...

Authors: Astrid Apor, Anikó Ilona Nagy, Attila Kovács, Aristomenis Manouras, Péter Andrássy and Béla Merkely

Impact of a structured referral algorithm on the ability to monitor adherence to appropriate use criteria for transthoracic echocardiography

Many free-form-text referral requisitions for transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) provide insufficient information to adequately evaluate their adherence to Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC). We developed a stru...

Authors: Steven Promislow, Joseph G. Abunassar, Behnam Banihashemi, Benjamin J. Chow, Girish Dwivedi, Kasra Maftoon and Ian G. Burwash

Echocardiographic diagnosis of the different phenotypes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited cardiovascular disorder of great genetic heterogeneity and has a prevalence of 0.1 – 0.2 % in the general population. Several hundred mutations in more than 27...

Authors: Vito Maurizio Parato, Valeria Antoncecchi, Fabiola Sozzi, Stefania Marazia, Annapaola Zito, Maria Maiello and Pasquale Palmiero

In-hospital measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction and one-year outcomes in acute coronary syndromes: results from the IMMEDIATE Trial

In patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is a known marker for increased mortality. However, the relationship between LVEF measured during index ACS hos...

Authors: Jayanta T. Mukherjee, Joni R. Beshansky, Robin Ruthazer, Hadeel Alkofide, Madhab Ray, David Kent, Warren J. Manning, Gordon S. Huggins and Harry P. Selker;

Modified transesophageal echocardiography of the dissected thoracic aorta; a novel diagnostic approach

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a key diagnostic modality in patients with acute aortic dissection, yet its sensitivity is limited by a “blind-spot” caused by air in the trachea. After placement of a...

Authors: Wouter W. Jansen Klomp, Linda M. Peelen, George J. Brandon Bravo Bruinsma, Arnoud W. J. van’t Hof, Jan G. Grandjean and Arno P. Nierich