Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · Mar 2013
Incremental diagnostic and prognostic value of contemporary stress echocardiography in a chest pain unit: mortality and morbidity outcomes from a real-world setting.
Clinical assessment often cannot reliably or rapidly risk stratify patients hospitalized with suspected acute coronary syndrome. The real-world clinical value of stress echocardiography (SE) in these patients is unknown. Thus, we undertook this study to assess the feasibility, safety, ability for early triaging, and prediction of hard events of SE incorporated into a chest pain unit for patients admitted with acute chest pain, nondiagnostic ECG, and negative 12-hour troponin. ⋯ SE incorporated into a chest pain unit has excellent feasibility and provides rapid assessment and discharge with accurate risk stratification of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome but nondiagnostic ECG and negative 12-hour troponin.
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · Jan 2013
Multicenter Study Comparative StudySex differences in aortic valve calcification measured by multidetector computed tomography in aortic stenosis.
Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is the intrinsic mechanism of valvular obstruction leading to aortic stenosis (AS) and is measurable by multidetector computed tomography. The link between sex and AS is controversial and that with AVC is unknown. ⋯ In this large AS population, women incurred similar AS severity than men for lower AVC loads, even after indexing for their smaller body size. Hence, the relationship between valvular calcification process and AS severity differs in women and men, warranting further pathophysiological inquiry. For AS severity diagnostic purposes, interpretation of AVC load should be different in men and in women.
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyAutomated quantitative 3-dimensional modeling of the aortic valve and root by 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in normals, aortic regurgitation, and aortic stenosis: comparison to computed tomography in normals and clinical implications.
We tested the ability of a novel automated 3-dimensional (3D) algorithm to model and quantify the aortic root from 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and computed tomographic (CT) data. ⋯ Automated quantitative 3D modeling of the aortic root from 3D TEE or CT data is technically feasible and provides unique data that may aid surgical and transcatheter interventions.
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Circ Cardiovasc Imaging · Nov 2012
Comparative StudyAssociation of myocardial deformation with outcome in asymptomatic aortic stenosis with normal ejection fraction.
Current guidelines recommend intervention for symptomatic aortic stenosis, but the management of asymptomatic aortic stenosis remains controversial. As left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) has been shown to predict cardiovascular outcome, we sought to find whether its use could guide the assessment of risk in these patients. ⋯ GLS is associated with outcomes in patients with severe asymptomatic aortic stenosis, incremental to other clinical and echocardiographic variables.