Right heart infective endocarditis presenting as an isolated apical mural mass is an extremely uncommon finding. A 24-year-old woman with congenital deafness and aphasia was admitted with recurrent attacks of fever and lobar pneumonia. Her past medical history was significant for an open operation for left nephrolithiasis five months before ...

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the incidence and patterns of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in different forms of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and to determine their relation to severity of left ventricular (LV) remodeling. BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy is an independent predictor of cardiac mortality. The relationship between LVH and ...

BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and ventricular geometry is important, especially in patients with heart failure (HF). The aim of this study was to compare the assessment of ventricular size and geometry by 2D and 3D echocardiography in normotensive controls and among HF patients with a normal ...

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a hallmark of chronic pressure or volume overload of the left ventricle and is associated with risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The purpose was to evaluate different electrocardiographic criteria for LVH as determined by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Additionally, the effects of concentric ...

BACKGROUND: Quantification of ventricular volume by steady state free precession (SSFP) cardiovascular magnetic resonance is accurate and reproducible. Normal values exist for adults, but are lacking for children.We sought to establish normal values for left and right ventricular volumes, mass and function in healthy children by using SSFP. METHODS AND ...

The relationship between erythrocyte deformability and aggregability with left ventricular mass index has been examined in patients diagnosed with at least one cardiovascular risk factor but without ongoing coronary heart disease. The group consisted of 66 individuals, 30 men and 36 women, of the average age 57.7 years. For each ...

BACKGROUND: Obesity is linked to increased left ventricular mass, an independent predictor of mortality. As a result of this, understanding the determinants of left ventricular mass in the setting of obesity has both therapeutic and prognostic implications. Using cardiovascular magnetic resonance our goal was to elucidate the main predictors of ...

BACKGROUND: The coexistence of cardiac hypertrophy (H) and ischemia (I) can create a particularly arrhythmogenic substrate. Most studies investigate the effects of global I on H. However, global I is not a good surrogate model of the clinical situation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the electrophysiological ...

Mitochondrial toxicity results from pyrimidine nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) for HIV/AIDS. In the heart, this can deplete mitochondrial (mt) DNA and cause cardiac dysfunction (eg, left ventricle hypertrophy, LVH). Four unique transgenic, cardiac-targeted overexpressors (TGs) were generated to determine their individual impact on native mitochondrial biogenesis and effects of ...

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) portends a worse outcome after non-ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). However, its definition has varied and the incremental prognostic information provided by echocardiography has been unclear. Different electrocardiographic and echocardiographic criteria for LVH were compared for their ability to predict in-hospital complications in 451 consecutive patients ...

Our aim was to determine whether the index of left ventricular mass increases during the acute and subacute phase of Kawasaki disease, and to investigate any relationship between this index and clinical and echocardiographic variables. We performed, therefore, a retrospective study of 66 children with Kawasaki disease, having a mean ...

Porcine models have become increasingly popular in cardiovascular research. The standard farm pig rapidly increases in body weight and size, potentially confounding serial measurements of cardiac function and morphology. We developed an adult porcine model that does not show physiologic increases in heart mass during the study period and is ...

To develop and evaluate an automated left ventricle (LV) segmentation algorithm using Graph searching based on Intensity and Gradient information and A priori knowledge (lvGIGA). The lvGIGA algorithm was implemented with coil sensitivity correction and polar coordinate transformation. Graph searching and expansion were applied for extracting myocardial endocardial and epicardial ...

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and diastolic dysfunction occur after cardiac transplantation. We investigated sirolimus (SRL) as primary immunosuppression for the attenuation of LVH and diastolic dysfunction of the cardiac allograft. METHODS: Seventy cardiac transplant recipients were converted to SRL, 5.79+/-3.90 years after transplant, with complete calcineurin-inhibitor (CNI) withdrawal. Three ...

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) correlates with chronic renal failure and is one of the most important causes of cardiac mortality. The understanding of the molecular complexity of the disease will help to find biomarkers that open new perspectives about early diagnosis and therapy. This work describes the identification of mediators ...

INTRODUCTION: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and obesity are important cardiovascular risk factors. This study evaluates the influence of obesity on the diagnostic performance of the most used electrocardiographic criteria for LVH in hypertensive patients. METHODS: One thousand two hundred four outpatients from the Hypertensive Unit of the Hospital São Paulo, ...

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) detected by ECG has been shown to be associated with a higher prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias in members of the general population, in a case-control series of hypertensive patients and in never-treated hypertensive patients. In-keeping with this, it has been observed that hypertension-induced LVH increases the ...

An eleven year old, spayed female French bulldog with pituitary-dependant hyperadrenocortism with a cardiac murmur and gallop rhythm presented with dyspnea, tachypnea, adventitious lung sounds, and weak pulses. Pleural effusion and a heart-based mass were demonstrated via radiography and echocardiography. The dog died while receiving supportive care. Necropsy and histopathology ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation between the prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and the type and degree of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in hypertensive patients using exercise testing and Holter monitoring. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 192 patients (87 men and 105 women) without coronary disease were divided into ...

The aim of the study was to describe right ventricular (RV) structural and functional changes in Fabry disease (FD). A detailed echocardiographic examination was performed in 58 patients with proven FD (mean age 40 +/- 16 years, 24 men). RV hypertrophy (RVH) was present in 40% of affected subjects with ...

INTRODUCTION: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) have been successfully used for patients with cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate cardiac effects of ACEi in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, as there are no previous reports regarding these effects. METHODS: Enalapril was administered ...

Because early and late preeclampsia (PE) are thought to be different disease entities, we compared maternal cardiac function at 24 weeks gestation in a group of normotensive asymptomatic patients with subsequent development of early (<34 weeks gestation) and late (>or=34 weeks gestation) PE (blood pressure >140/90+proteinuria >300 mg/dL) to detect ...

Obesity is directly and strongly associated with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Development of LVH is multifactorial, caused both by haemodynamic and non-haemodynamic factors. Hypertension is the main haemodynamic factor. Humoral mechanisms, as a non-haemodynamic factor for LVH development, have not been completely explained. The aim of this study ...

A 37-year-old woman presented with a 2-month history of fullness and ptosis of the left upper eyelid. Examination revealed a 6-cm x 2-cm mass in the left brow and upper eyelid, and a diffuse mass in the lower eyelid. Marked ptosis of the left upper eyelid and elevation of the ...

Increasing evidence indicates that cardiac structure and function are modulated by the nitric oxide (NO) system. Elevated plasma concentrations of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA; a competitive inhibitor of NO synthase) have been reported in patients with end-stage renal disease. It is unclear if circulating ADMA and L-arginine levels are related to ...

OBJECTIVES: The long-term outcome and clinical significance of athlete's heart has been debated and more longitudinal data are needed. We present a prospective 15 years' follow-up study of ECG and echo findings in elite endurance athletes following the end of their competitive career. METHODS: Clinical evaluation, ECG, ambulatory Holter recording ...

Fabry cardiomyopathy (FC) is characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The aim of this study is to determine whether early changes revealed by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) are useful for detecting preclinical cardiac abnormalities in patients with this X-linked genetic disorder. If so, this tool could help in deciding whether ...

BACKGROUND: Accurate quantification of left ventricular mass and ejection fraction is important for patients with left ventricular hypertrophy. Although cardiac magnetic resonance imaging has been proposed as a standard for these indices, prior studies have variably included papillary muscles and trabeculae in myocardial volume. This study investigated the contribution of ...

Inhibition of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activity using angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) is beneficial in patient populations with left ventricular dysfunction or systolic heart failure (HF) and other forms of heart disease. In high-risk patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), treatment with these agents reduces the ...

Infantile Pompe disease (glycogen storage disease type 2) is a fatal disorder caused by deficiency of acid alpha-glucosidase. This deficiency results in glycogen accumulation in the lysosomes of many tissues including cardiac muscle. The disease is characterized by profound hypotonia, poor growth, organomegaly, and cardiomegaly. Severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often is ...

Assessment of appropriateness of left ventricular mass (LVM) for a given workload may better stratify hypertensive patients. Inappropriate LVM may reflect the interaction of genetic and neurohumoral factors other than blood pressure playing a significant role in myocardial growth. Primary aldosteronism (PA) represents a clinical model useful in assessing the ...

A 71-year-old man with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presented with intracavitary cardiac involvement detected incidentally on surveillance computed tomography. Tumor with associated thrombus was found to extend from the liver through the inferior vena cava into the right atrium. This intracardiac mass prolapsed intermittently into the right ventricle, causing functional tricuspid ...

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) can itself contribute to increased rates of cardiovascular events. We sought to determine the impact of LVH on in-hospital and long-term mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: Between 1992 and 2003, 4140 consecutive patients underwent CABG. Long-term survival data (mean follow-up 7.0 years) ...

In clinical practice, differential diagnosis among different forms of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is not always easy, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) can be misdiagnosed. In this study, it was hypothesized that a 3-dimensional echocardiographically derived index of LV regional mass distribution could be useful in differentiating HC from other forms ...

In kidney transplant (KT) recipients, cardiac impact of the persistence of an asymptomatic arteriovenous fistula (AVF) for hemodialysis has not been fully elucidated. Seventy-six patients (mean age: 49 years) without history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease underwent an echocardiography. Thirty-eight had a functioning AVF and were match-paired for age, gender ...

AIM: The value of conventional radiology, electrocardiography and echocardiography in estimating the prevalence of left ventricular (LV) remodeling patterns in patients with newly discovered hypertension was less studied. The aim of the present study was to assess the accuracy of conventional radiology and electrocardiography compared to echocardiography in the diagnosis ...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term profile and determine the factors that would influence the effect and rate of ventricular mass regression with time after aortic valve replacement with a stentless or a homograft valve. METHODS: We studied 300 patients during a 10-year period with ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to use a single-breath-hold T2-mapping MRI sequence to evaluate the reversibility of myocardial edema in patients treated for acromegaly. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Before and after treatment, 15 patients with acromegaly underwent myocardial T2 mapping with an experimental single-breath-hold black-blood fast spin-echo sequence. Myocardial ...

BACKGROUND: GH and IGF-I affect cardiac structure and performance. In the general population, low IGF-I has been associated with higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease and mortality. Both in GH deficiency (GHD) and excess life expectancy has been reported to be reduced because of cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: To review the ...

Emerging applications of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) include the evaluation of myocardial perfusion, the improvement of the definition of intracavitary structures, and evaluation of the relative perfusion of a cardiac mass. We present a case of a patient that was found incidentally to have a cardiac mass on transthoracic echocardiography. ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Studies in pediatric populations may provide sensitive insights into the prevalence, evolution and underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular complications of chronic kidney disease, without confounding factors such as aging and diabetes. This review reflects on recent echocardiographic studies assessing left-ventricular mass, geometry and function in children with mild-to-moderate ...

A lead selection algorithm was applied to find optimal recording sites for limited lead body surface potential maps. The studied population consisted of a set of 117 lead body surface potential maps recorded from 744 subjects (229, normal; 278, with myocardial infraction [MI]; and 237, with left ventricular hypertrophy [LVH]). ...

The aim of this study was to analyze the relation between the magnitude of training-induced left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and the frequency and complexity of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in a large population of elite athletes without cardiovascular abnormalities. Ventricular tachyarrhythmias are a common finding in athletes, but it is unresolved as ...

Kidney dysfunction is often associated with cardiac left ventricular hypertrophy and increased cardiovascular mortality. Objective. The aim of this study was to find out whether this reflects direct effects of uraemia on the heart or is dependent on accompanying hypertension. Material and methods. Apolipoprotein-E (apoE)-deficient C57BL/6 mice are resistant to ...

BACKGROUND: Decision making in the care of pediatric patients with congenital and acquired heart disease remains reliant on detailed measurements of cardiac structures using 2-dimensional echocardiography. Calculated z scores are often used to normalize these measurements to the patient's body size. Existing normal data in the literature are limited by ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in cardiac geometry, systolic and diastolic function before and after weight loss in morbidly obese adolescents. BACKGROUND: Cardiac abnormalities are present in morbidly obese adolescents; however, it is unclear if they are reversible with weight loss. METHODS: Data from 38 ...

In coronary artery disease (CAD), a potentially reversible factor leading to cardiac death is left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). While the electrocardiogram (ECG) is a widely available way to diagnose LVH, its sensitivity and specificity has never been assessed in this particular patient group where added ischaemic changes on ECG might ...

There is no doubt that scaling relations exist between myocardial mass and morphometry of coronary vasculature. The purpose of this study is to quantify several morphological (diameter, length, and volume) and functional (flow) parameters of the coronary arterial tree in relation to myocardial mass. Eight normal porcine hearts of 117-244 ...

OBJECTIVES: The influence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) on left ventricular synchronicity, and the prevalence of left ventricular dyssynchrony in hypertensive patients with LVH are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of LVH on left ventricular synchronicity in hypertensive subjects. METHOD: Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) ...

Cardiac metastatic squamous cell laryngeal carcinoma is rare. We report the case of a 49-year-old man with recurrent squamous laryngeal carcinoma presenting with right leg acute ischaemia and large mobile right and left cardiac masses. The patient has history of laryngeal squamous cell cancer surgically treated with total laryngectomy, thyroidectomy, ...