European heart journal cardiovascular Imaging
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Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging · Aug 2013
Meta AnalysisCoronary computed tomographic angiography for detection of coronary artery disease in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Assessment of chest pain patients remains a clinical challenge in the emergency department (ED). Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown the additive value of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) compared with standard care. Not all of them, however, had enough power to detect differences in clinical outcomes like revascularization. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to test the safety and efficacy of this non-invasive diagnostic approach in low- and intermediate-risk chest pain patients. ⋯ The present meta-analysis shows that a strategy with CCTA used as first imaging test for low- and intermediate-risk patients presenting to the ED with chest pain appears safe and seems not to increase subsequent invasive coronary angiographies. The approach is cost-effective although limited data and incomplete cost analyses have been performed. CCTA increases coronary revascularizations, with still an unknown effect on prognosis, especially in the long term.
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Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging · Aug 2013
Global and regional longitudinal strain assessed by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography identifies early myocardial dysfunction and transmural extent of myocardial scar in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction and relatively preserved LV function.
Global and regional longitudinal strain (GLS-RLS) assessed by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) are considered reliable indexes of left-ventricular (LV) function and myocardial viability in chronic ischaemic patients when compared with delayed-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (DE-CMR). In the present study, we tested whether GLS and RLS could also identify early myocardial dysfunction and transmural extent of myocardial scar in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and relatively preserved LV function. ⋯ Our findings indicate that RLS and GLS evaluation provides an accurate assessment of global myocardial function and of the presence of segments with transmural extent of necrosis, with several potential clinical implications.
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Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging · Jul 2013
ReviewRecommendations for the echocardiographic assessment of native valvular regurgitation: an executive summary from the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging.
Valvular regurgitation represents an important cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Echocardiography has become the primary non-invasive imaging method for the evaluation of valvular regurgitation. ⋯ In clinical practice, the management of patients with valvular regurgitation thus largely integrates the results of echocardiography. It is crucial to provide standards that aim at establishing a baseline list of measurements to be performed when assessing regurgitation.
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Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging · Jul 2013
ReviewThe year 2012 in the European Heart Journal-Cardiovascular Imaging. Part II.
The part II of the best of the European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging in 2012 specifically focuses on studies of valvular heart diseases, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart diseases.
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Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging · Jul 2013
Comparative StudyComparison of three-dimensional echocardiographic software packages for assessment of left ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony and prediction of response to cardiac resynchronization therapy.
We directly compared TomTec and QLAB software packages for the three-dimensional echocardiographic (3DE) assessment of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony including their ability to predict response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy. ⋯ Different 3DE software packages for the assessment of mechanical dyssynchrony should not be used interchangeably until better software standardization is achieved. Dyssynchrony assessment with 3DE for the prediction of response to CRT seems particularly useful in patients with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy.