European heart journal cardiovascular Imaging
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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 · Jun 2013
ReviewThe year 2012 in the European Heart Journal-Cardiovascular Imaging: Part I.
The new multi-modality cardiovascular imaging journal, European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging, was started in 2012. During its first year, the new Journal has published an impressive collection of cardiovascular studies utilizing all cardiovascular imaging modalities. We will summarize the most important studies from its first year in two articles. The present 'Part I' of the review will focus on studies in myocardial function, myocardial ischaemia, and emerging techniques in cardiovascular imaging.
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The classic entity of life-threatening aortic dissection represents one pathology of a spectrum of acute conditions coined the acute aortic syndrome comprising dissection, intramural haematoma, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer, and contained aortic rupture of any cause. The common denominator is disruption of the aortic media layers associated with severe pain and a variety of other symptoms. Any clinical suspicion of acute aortic syndrome should prompt immediate action and confirmatory non-invasive imaging; with respect to sensitivity and specificity for acute aortic pathology modern contrast-enhanced CT technology, MR imaging and ultrasound techniques have similar diagnostic accuracy near 100%. Since the prognosis of most patients with acute aortic dissection is related to undelayed diagnosis and (often surgical) treatment swift diagnostic imaging should be the primary goal in the work-up of any patient with suspected acute aortic syndrome; transfer and in-hospital logistics and local expertise for the differential use of various imaging modalities should be constantly improved.
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Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging · Jul 2012
ReviewAssessment of aortic valve complex by three-dimensional echocardiography: a framework for its effective application in clinical practice.
In the current era of expanding catheter-based and complex repair procedures to treat aortic valve (AV) diseases, growing consideration is being given to understanding the functional anatomy of the AV complex. Echocardiography is the primary imaging modality to assess and follow-up AV diseases, and the recent three-dimensional (3D) capabilities allow clinicians to appreciate the functional complexity of the aortic root in the beating heart. ⋯ In this review, we discuss the key principles of 3DE for assessing the AV pathology and the incremental clinical benefits in comparison with conventional 2DE and Doppler echocardiography, justifying its implementation in the diagnostic workup of aortic diseases. In view of an effective clinical use, a brief section is dedicated to the acquisition modalities, display, and interpretation of various abnormalities by 3DE.