Echocardiograkids and useful tools

BACKGROUND: Pediatric heart transplant recipients are at risk for increased left ventricular (LV) diastolic stiffness. However, the noninvasive evaluation of LV stiffness has remained elusive in this population. The objective of this study was to compare novel echocardiographic measures of LV diastolic stiffness versus gold-standard measures derived from pressure-volume loop (PVL) analysis in pediatric heart transplant recipients. METHODS: Patients undergoing left heart catheterization were prospectively enrolled...

BACKGROUND: In critically ill patients at risk for organ failure, the administration of intravenous fluids has equal chances of resulting in benefit or harm. While the intent of intravenous fluid is to increase cardiac output and oxygen delivery, unwelcome results in those patients who do not increase their cardiac output are tissue edema, hypoxemia, and excess mortality. Here we briefly review bedside methods to assess fluid responsiveness, focusing upon the strengths and pitfalls of echocardiography in spontaneously breathing mechanically ventilated patients as a means to guide fluid management...

Right ventricular function is a crucial determinant of long-term outcomes of children with heart disease. Quantification of right ventricular systolic and diastolic performance by echocardiography is of paramount importance, given the prevalence of children with heart disease, particularly those with involvement of the right heart, such as single or systemic right ventricles, tetralogy of Fallot, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Identification of poor right ventricular performance can provide an opportunity to intervene...

BACKGROUND: Constrictive pericarditis is an uncommon condition that could be easily confused with congestive heart failure. In symptomatic patients, septal "wobble" on echocardiography may be an important sign of constrictive physiology. This study was planned to investigate the effects of constriction on septal motion as identified by echocardiography. METHODS: In this retrospective observational study, nine consecutive patients with constriction underwent careful echocardiographic analysis of the interventricular septum (IVS) with slow motion 2-dimensional echocardiography and inspiratory manoeuvres...

The catastrophic consequences for patients in the settings of certain clinical conditions such as acute right ventricular infarction or massive pulmonary embolism with right heart failure illustrate the essential role that the right ventricle plays in sustaining life. With the development of more sophisticated diagnostic imaging technologies at the end of the last century and the dawn of this century, the importance of the right ventricle has been clearly demonstrated. The continued and evolving nature of our understanding of the right ventricle was emphasized in 2006, when the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute formed a working group focused on developing a better understanding of the right ventricle in both healthy and disease states...

BACKGROUND: Studies with other imaging modalities have demonstrated a relationship between contrast transit and cardiac output (CO) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). We tested the hypothesis that the transit time during contrast echocardiography could accurately estimate both CO and PVR compared to right heart catheterization (RHC). METHODS: 27 patients scheduled for RHC had 2D-echocardiogram immediately prior to RHC. 3 ml of DEFINITY contrast followed by a 10 ml saline flush was injected, and a multi-cycle echo clip was acquired from the beginning of injection to opacification of the left ventricle...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of heart murmurs detected during heart disease screening among apparently healthy schoolchildren. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: 32 elementary schools in Dongguan City of China. PATIENTS: 81,213 schoolchildren aged 5-13 years from different elementary schools. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence and clinical significance of heart murmurs among schoolchildren...

Anthracycline chemotherapy (AC) is associated with impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function. LV ejection fraction (EF %) obtained by two-dimensional echocardiography is the current gold standard for detection and monitoring of LV systolic function. However, dependence on LVEF has been shown to be unreliable due to its inherent limitations. Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) measures myocardial strain and is a sensitive method to detect LV systolic dysfunction with demonstrated utility in such detection in adult and pediatric cohort studies...