AIMS: There are controversies concerning the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), and the unclear association between angiotensinogen (ATG) M235T polymorphism and LVH. We investigated both the separate and interactive effects of these two genes on LVH in patients (N=396) with cardiovascular disease ...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder that can cause left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. In patients with OSA, the LV dysfunction is usually evaluated by echocardiography. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the use of breathhold cine MRI for the study of LV dysfunction would ...

The effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) volumes in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) have not been studied. We hypothesized that CPAP would cause greater reductions in cardiac volumes in CHF patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) than in those with ...

OBJECTIVES: The study evaluates the clinical course and the development of systolic and diastolic left ventricular function in patients with chronic myocarditis with or without autoantibodies against cardiac myosin. BACKGROUND: Patients with myocarditis often show autoantibodies against cardiac myosin. The clinical and pathophysiologic significance of these antimyosin autoantibodies (AMAAB) is ...

The morphologically right ventricle (mRV) fails after managing systemic workload for a variable period of time in some patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) who have undergone an atrial switch operation and in patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (cc-TGA). Conventional therapy for progressive mRV ...

AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate (1) the prevalence and patterns of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and (2) the impact of blood pressure (BP) control, assessed by clinical and 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) criteria on the persistence of LVH in a representative sample of treated ...

A functional genetic variant consisting of a C825T substitution in the GNB3 gene, encoding for the G-protein beta(3) subunit, has been associated with enhanced G-protein activation and cell growth. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of this polymorphism with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in a sample ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to determine the frequency of cerebral microemboli (high-intensity transient signals; HITS) detected by transcranial Doppler (TCD) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to relate them to the various putative risk factors and clinical embolic events. METHODS: We investigated 112 consecutive patients ...

BACKGROUND: This study is an analysis of our results with endoventricular repair of postinfarction structural defects of the posterobasal part of the heart. METHODS: Thirty-four patients who underwent endoventricular repair of a postinfarction structural defect of the posterobasal heart were reviewed. Patients with rupture of the ventricular septum (18 patients) ...

BACKGROUND: Right ventricular dysfunction occurs in many patients with significant pulmonary valve regurgitation late after initial total repair of tetralogy of Fallot. Methods to predict which of these patients are at increased risk of late morbidity and mortality are not yet known. HYPOTHESIS: This study evaluated electrocardiographic (ECG) predictors of ...

BACKGROUND: The clinical course in primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is improved by calcium channel blocker therapy in those with a favorable hemodynamic response during a trial of high-dose oral nifedipine. Although trials of nifedipine are performed only in patients who demonstrate pulmonary vasodilator reserve to short-acting agents, this response does ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate the rate of recovery from septic shock in patients with suspected left ventricular (LV) preload deficiency and LV systolic dysfunction. DESIGN: A monitoring period was defined by the need for inotropic/vasopressor support, and LV function was assessed daily during this period by bedside two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-ECHO). ...

Several evidences indicate that GH and/or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) are involved in the regulation of cardiovascular function. In patients with childhood and adulthood-onset GH deficiency (GHD), the impairment of cardiac performance is manifest primarily as a reduction in the left ventricular (LV) mass (LVM), inadequacy of LV ejection ...

BACKGROUND: Two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography with respiratory monitoring has been used to characterize diseases that impair diastolic function. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has emerged as a complementary technique to evaluate patients with these diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate in a large clinical practice the utility of TEE with ...

BACKGROUND: It is not known that an S3 can be audible intermittently. We have recognized this in patients with VVI pacing in whom sinus rhythm has been preserved. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Subjects consisted of consecutive 39 patients with VVI pacemaker implantation and preservation of sinus rhythm. We tried to find ...

Irregular breathing occurs frequently in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) both during daytime and nighttime. Many factors are involved in the genesis of these breathing abnormalities, but the role of the hemodynamic impairment remains controversial. This study investigated the relation between worsening ventricular function and the frequency of respiratory ...

Mismatching between beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) and perfusion accurately predicts functional outcome after acute myocardial infarction. The current investigation was aimed at evaluating the value of this method to predict the evolution of global function according to the applied treatment in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease. METHODS: Twenty patients with ...

The electrocardiogram remains the most commonly used method of cardiac assessment in developing countries. To determine the prevalence of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and the clinical significance of Sokolow-Lyon voltage criteria in sickle cell patients, echocardiographic and ECG findings were studied in 112 patients (71 with haemoglobin SS disease ...

BACKGROUND: The clinical work-out of patients undergoing coronary revascularization includes the assessment of myocardial viability. This approach has to be defined in the different classes of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive prognostic value of different techniques on outcome following PTCA in patients with moderate ...

BACKGROUND: Lung volume reduction surgery has been proposed as a bridge to lung transplantation and as definitive therapy for advanced chronic obstructive lung disease. However, patient selection criteria and optimal preoperative assessment have not been clearly defined. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the feasibility, safety, and value of dobutamine stress echocardiography as ...

OBJECT: Ventricular size often shows no obvious change following third ventriculostomy, particularly in the early postoperative period, making postoperative evaluation difficult without expensive and often invasive testing in patients with equivocal clinical responses. The authors hypothesized that performing careful volumetric measurements would show decreases in size within the first 3 ...

BACKGROUND AND STUDY OBJECTIVE: Echocardiographic detection of right heart thromboemboli (RHTE) during pulmonary embolism (PE) shows an uncommon but life-threatening event. The treatment of this condition is not well established. The aim of our study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in treating ...

We assessed left ventricular systolic and diastolic function using pulsed-waved Doppler echocardiography in a selected group of 20 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (mean age, 35 +/- 8 years; mean diabetes duration, 17 + 7 years). Our patients were free of autonomic neuropathy and major micro- or macrovascular complications ...

PURPOSE: To determine the value of indium-111-antimyosin ((111)In-AM) scintigraphy in the early detection of myocardial damage in children treated with doxorubicin. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twelve planar scintigrams were made of eight patients (seven children and one young adult; mean age, 12 years). Three scans were obtained before doxorubicin therapy in ...

The incidence of left ventricular (LV) diastolic abnormalities in adult cardiac surgical patients has not previously been adequately investigated. The present study was performed to characterize LV diastolic filling patterns by performing transesophageal Doppler echocardiographic (TEE) studies in patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures and thus indirectly assess diastolic function in ...

OBJECTIVES: The study assessed changes in left ventricular systolic and diastolic function after pericardiectomy in patients with constrictive pericarditis and correlated postoperative Doppler echocardiographic findings with clinical status. BACKGROUND: Despite the efficacy of pericardiectomy, some patients with constrictive pericarditis fail to improve postoperatively. Data on serial evaluation of systolic and ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate left ventricular dysfunction in patients who had been treated with anthracycline based chemotherapy. METHODS: Autonomic function was compared with left ventricular diastolic function in 20 asymptomatic women with normal systolic function (left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) > 0.50) treated for breast cancer with high dose anthracycline based ...

The aim of this study is to characterize and compare the left ventricular (LV) diastolic filling patterns in patients with paroxysmal (PAF) versus chronic atrial fibrillation (CAF) undergoing the maze procedure and to examine their relation with the hemodynamic status. Fifty patients with PAF and 22 with CAF were studied. ...

We studied the distinctive morphology of the left ventricle (LV) and attempted to relate advanced age and hypertension to this characteristic feature in elderly patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC). Fourteen elderly patients > or = 85 years old (mean age 90 +/- 5 years) with HC were compared with 45 ...

Forty-eight patients with double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV) were prospectively studied over a 3-year period. Clinical, echocardiographic, hemodynamic, and angiographic studies were done in all. Three patients were studied postoperatively also. Fifteen patients underwent surgery confirming the diagnosis. Echocardiography detected anomalous muscle bundles (AMBs) in 39/41 patients in whom this study ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and clinical characteristics of left ventricular dysfunction among elderly patients in the general practice setting by echocardiographic assessment of ventricular function. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTING: Four centre general practice in Poole, Dorset. SUBJECTS: 817 elderly patients aged 70-84 years. MAIN OUTCOMES: Echocardiographic assessment of ...

OBJECTIVE: Severe impairment of left ventricular (LV) contraction is associated with an adverse prognosis in patients with ischaemic heart disease. Revascularisation may improve the impaired LV contraction if hibernating myocardium is present. The proportion of patients likely to benefit from this intervention is unknown. Therefore, the prevalence of hibernating myocardium ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency, clinical features and echocardiographic characteristics of increased intraventricular velocities (IIVs) in patients referred to the echocardiography laboratory for systolic murmur. BACKGROUND: A subset of patients referred to the echocardiography laboratory for evaluation of a systolic murmur have IIVs in ...

BACKGROUND: The most efficient preoperative assessment for lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) in patients with advanced emphysema is undefined. This study analyzed the preoperative assessment of patients by surface echocardiography (without and with dobutamine infusion), the results of which were used to exclude patients with significant pre-existing cardiac disease, a ...

Microalbuminuria (MA) is present in hypertensive autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients, but has not been reported in normotensive ADPKD patients. We examined the prevalence of MA and the effect of different determinants on urinary albumin excretion in a group of 42 normotensive ADPKD patients. Metabolic parameters, plasma renin activity ...

It is frequently claimed that ideational apraxia, an impairm ent of the performance of complex actions with objects, is a left-hemisphere syndrome. We assessed the consequences of lefthemisphere damage for naturalistic action performance in two studies. In Study 1, we compared the action errors of left-hemisphere stroke patients (LCVA) to ...

It is still unclear whether echocardiography with an automated boundary detection technique (ABD) can accurately determine the left ventricular (LV) volume and function particularly in the presence of LV wall asynergy. We intended to re-evaluate the reliability and application of the ABD, which was based on the acoustic quantification technique ...

INTRODUCTION: Conduction time (CT) is given by the formula: conducting distance divided by conduction velocity. Based on this formula, we hypothesized that CT shortening (i.e., supernormal conduction) may result from dimensional shortening of the distance of impulse propagation, which naturally occurs during ventricular systole. METHODS AND RESULTS: To test the ...

OBJECTIVES: We sought to serially assess left ventricular (LV) function before and after catheter ablation of atrial flutter (AFI). BACKGROUND: The relation of tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy to AFI and its response to direct catheter ablation are unknown. METHODS: LV function was assessed in a series of 59 consecutive patients with successful ...

During 1992 1996 we observed 122 children with diphtheria, 49 with the toxic form, in the region of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. Sixty-four patients suffered from diphtheric carditis, 9 died. The clinical picture was characterized by a rapid development of heart and circulatory failure. ECG showed QRS alterations with intraventricular ...

Long-term survival in patients with mild to moderate impairment of left ventricular contractility in the absence of coronary artery disease has not been studied extensively but the prognosis is assumed to be good. One hundred sixty-eight patients with angiographic evidence of mild or moderate impairment of left ventricular contractility and ...

Improvement in left ventricular (LV) function in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by medical treatment has been suggested. Thus, it is important to evaluate which patients will respond to medical therapy. Positron emission tomography (PET) with fluorine-18 fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) and cardiac catheterization were performed in 20 patients with DCM ...

We examined the relationship between left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and renal and retinal damage in 174 untreated patients with essential hypertension. As an index of renal and retinal damage, we examined proteinuria and retinal vascular change. LVH was diagnosed according to left ventricular mass obtained from echocardiography. Of the hypertensive ...

The correlation between 19 echocardiographic markers of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) severity and findings on physical examination was studied in 66 consecutive patients (age 63 +/- 12 years) with moderate or severe TR. Clinical TR was defined by two or more of the following: prominent jugular venous pulse V waves, pulsating ...

BACKGROUND: Serial evaluation of left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) is important for the management and follow-up of cardiac patients. Our aim was to compare LVEF calculated from two three-dimensional echocardiographic (3DE) methods with multigated radionuclide angiography (RNA), in patients with normal and abnormally shaped ventricles. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-one ...

In the long-term follow-up of patients after repair of tetralogy of Fallot, monitoring right ventricular function is mandatory. The echocardiographic subtraction method proposed by Tomita seems to be easily applicable to a pediatric age population and accurate enough to be included in the longitudinal surveillance of such a group of ...

In dialysis patients, the prevalence of severe left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and systolic failure, important predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, has been reported to be very high. Therefore, we investigated cardiac function in 17 long-term CAPD patients (dialysis duration: 76.5 +/- 13.2 months; L-CAPD) by echocardiography and pulsed Doppler, ...

We studied 17 consecutive patients of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever/Dengue Shock Syndrome (DHF/DSS) to assess cardiac function by radionuclide ventriculography, echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG) during the epidemic of Dengue virus type-2 (DEN-2) in Delhi, India (1996). Case definitions laid down by the WHO were followed. Fourteen patients were seropositive for Dengue ...

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Assessment of left ventricular metabolism and function is important in patients on maintenance dialysis because congestive heart failure occurs quite frequently and has a poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes of myocardial high energy metabolism in dialysis patients by using phosphorus-31 ...

Heart failure is a common disease characterised by poor prognosis and frequent hospitalisations, constituting a major economic burden to society. Mortality and morbidity can be reduced by optimal treatment, requiring objective evaluation of cardiac function and anatomy. The development of symptomatic HF can be prevented by initiating adequate treatment in ...