acoustic cardiography

Objective: To explore the correlation between the parameters of the new generation of Acoustic Cardiography and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and cardiac function grading in the diagnosis of heart failure. Methods: One hundred and sixty-eight inpatients, who were hospitalized in Department of Cardiology, Haikou People's Hospital from May 2016 to July 2017, were enrolled as heart failure group, including NYHA class Ⅰ( n =29), NYHA class Ⅱ( n =40), NYHA class Ⅲ( n =64), NYHA class Ⅳ ( n =35)...

Predicting atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after successful electrical cardioversion (ECV) is difficult. The main aim of this study was to investigate whether acoustic cardiography (AUDICOR® 200) immediately post-ECV might provide indices for AF relapse following cardioversion. Acoustic cardiography parameters included Electromechanical Activation Time (EMAT), Left Ventricular Systolic Time (LVST), QRS duration, heart rate and third heart sound intensity (S3 Strength). We analysed data from 140 patients who underwent successful cardioversion and in whom AUDICOR results and echocardiographic measurements immediately after (baseline) ECV were available...

This study aimed to examine the relationship between measurements related to heart sounds and the origin of ventricular arrhythmia. We retrospectively evaluated 45 patients undergoing catheter ablation with contemporaneous digital acoustic cardiography of the first heart sound (S1) and the second heart sound (S2). The patients with baseline wide QRS morphology (>120 ms or aberrant conduction), heart failure, valvular heart disease, chronic pulmonary disease, and obesity were excluded. Ventricular arrhythmias from the left ventricle had an increased S1 complexity score and S1 duration in comparison to adjacent sinus beats...

BACKGROUND: Rapid risk stratification in patients with heart failure is critically important but challenging. The aim of our study is to ascertain whether acoustic cardiography can identify heart failure (HF) patients at high risk for mortality. METHODS: A total of 474 HF patients were enrolled into our study (76±11years old). Acoustic cardiographic parameters included S3 score (ie, third heart sound exists) and systolic dysfunction index (SDI) (correlated closely with left ventricular systolic dysfunction)...

Cardiac auscultation by stethoscope is widely used but limited by low sensitivity and accuracy. Phonocardiogram was developed in an attempt to provide quantitative and qualitative information of heart sounds and murmurs by transforming acoustic signal into visual wavelet. Although phonocardiogram provides objective heart sound information and holds diagnostic potentials of different heart problems, its examination procedure is time-consuming and it requires specially trained technicians to operate the device...

AIMS: Device-based pacing-induced diaphragmatic stimulation (PIDS) may have therapeutic potential for chronic heart failure (HF) patients. We studied the effects of PIDS on cardiac function and functional outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 24 chronic HF patients with CRT, an additional electrode was attached to the left diaphragm. Randomized into two groups, patients received the following PIDS modes for 3 weeks in a different sequence: (i) PIDS off (control group); (ii) PIDS 0 ms mode (PIDS simultaneously with ventricular CRT pulse); or (iii) PIDS optimized mode (PIDS with optimized delay to ventricular CRT pulse)...

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A multiphysics simulation approach is developed for predicting cardiac flows as well as for conducting virtual echocardiography (ECHO) and phonocardiography (PC) of those flows. Intraventricular blood flow in pathological heart conditions is simulated by solving the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with an immersed boundary method, and using this computational hemodynamic data, echocardiographic and phonocardiographic signals are synthesized by separate simulations that model the physics of ultrasound wave scattering and flow-induced sound, respectively...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between acoustic characteristics of the first and second heart sounds (S1 and S2) and underlying cardiac structure and haemodynamics in patients with isolated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and controls. DESIGN: Prospective multicentre cohort study. SETTING: Tertiary referral and community hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: We prospectively evaluated 40 PAH patients undergoing right-heart catheterisation with contemporaneous digital acoustic cardiography (intensity and complexity) and two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography...

BACKGROUND: Low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the presence of restrictive LV filling pattern are poor prognosticators in heart failure patients with reduced EF (HFREF). We sought to investigate whether acoustic cardiography can identify these high-risk HFREF subgroups. METHODS: A total of 127 HFREF patients (EF<50%) were enrolled into our study. All patients underwent acoustic cardiographic and echocardiographic examinations. Acoustic cardiographic parameters included S3 score (probability that the third heart sound exists), electromechanical activation time (EMAT, interval from Q wave to the first heart sound; %EMAT is the proportion of cardiac cycle that EMAT occupies), and systolic dysfunction index (SDI, a derived variable from the combination of %EMAT, S3 score, QRS duration and QR interval)...

BACKGROUND: Investigate the usefulness of echocardiography and acoustic cardiography to monitor patients exposed to anthracycline chemotherapy. HYPOTHESIS: Serial echocardiographies to monitor systolic function may not be neccessary in all patients undergoing anthracycline chemotherapy. METHODS: In a prospective study, consecutive patients undergoing anthracycline-containing chemotherapy were evaluated with echocardiography and acoustic cardiography at baseline, after completion of chemotherapy, and after a median follow-up of 3...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is increasing as the population ages, but its rapid diagnosis and phenotype identification remain challenging. We sought to determine whether acoustic cardiography can accurately identify HF and its phenotypes. METHODS: Three cohorts of patients were studied [94 with hypertension, 109 with HF and normal ejection fraction (HFNEF, EF ≥ 50%) and 89 with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF, EF<50%)]. All participants received acoustic cardiography and echocardiography examinations...

BACKGROUND: Adequately recording diastolic heart sounds and systolic time intervals over longer periods is difficult. Thus, information on the circadian variation of these parameters in an ambulatory population is lacking. Moreover, age-related changes in the prevalence of diastolic heart sounds and measurements of systolic time intervals in an asymptomatic population have not been studied in continuous recordings. HYPOTHESIS: Diastolic heart sounds and systolic time intervals will have age and circadian variations that reflect known changes in cardiac function due to aging and circadian rhythms...

INTRODUCTION. The circadian variation of heart function and heart sounds in patients with and without heart failure (HF) is poorly understood. We hypothesized HF patients would exhibit less circadian variation with worsened cardiac function and sleep apnea. METHODS. We studied 67 HF patients (age 67.4 ± 8.2 years; 42% acute HF) and 63 asymptomatic control subjects with no history of HF (age 61.6 ± 7.7 years). Subjects wore a heart sound/ECG/respiratory monitor. The data were analyzed for sleep apnea, diastolic heart sounds, and systolic time intervals...

AIM: To assess if performance of 12-lead exercise tolerance testing (ETT) can be improved by simultaneous acoustic cardiography and to compare the diagnostic performances of electrocardiography (ECG) during ETT and acoustic cardiography for detection or exclusion of angiographically proven coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: We conducted an explorative study with retrospective data analysis using a convenience sample of consecutive patients (n = 59, mean age: 62 years) from an outpatient clinic in Switzerland, who were referred for ETT by their general practitioner on suspicion of CAD, and in whom, coronary angiography was carried out...

The signs and symptoms of systolic heart failure are frequently insensitive and nonspecific, making an accurate bedside diagnosis of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) challenging. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is often used, but is not diagnostically useful when in the indeterminate range. The authors investigated the diagnostic test characteristics of acoustic cardiographic parameters to identify patients with LVSD. Four hundred thirty-three patients with contemporaneous measurements of computerized acoustic cardiography, BNP, and echocardiography were included...

BACKGROUND: Rheumatic mitral stenosis severity has been assessed by the systolic time interval between the QRS onset and the first heart sound (QS1) by phonocardiography. We hypothesized that non-invasive computerized acoustic cardiography could evaluate mitral stenosis severity compared with echocardiography and invasive haemodynamics in patients undergoing percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC). METHODS: 27 patients underwent computerized acoustic cardiography, echocardiography, and invasive haemodynamic measurements prior to and after PTMC...

Objectives. Assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic function in patients with atrial fibrillation can be difficult. Acoustic cardiography provides several parameters for quantifying LV systolic function. We evaluated the ability of acoustic cardiography to detect LV systolic dysfunction in patients with and without atrial fibrillation. Design. We studied 194 patients who underwent acoustic cardiography and cardiac catheterization including measurement of angiographic ejection fraction (EF) and maximum LV dP/dt...

The authors investigated acoustic cardiography, the digital analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) and heart sounds, to detect phrenic nerve stimulation (PNS) and assess its hemodynamic significance. They studied 42 patients and induced 46 instances of PNS induced through cardiac pacing at various locations in the heart. These 46 instances of PNS were either independently documented using fluoroscopy or were symptomatic. The authors collected acoustic cardiography data including the electromechanical activation time (interval from Q onset to the first heart sound [S1]) as a percentage of the RR interval (%EMAT) to assess systolic function...

Early in the management of acute illness, it is critically important that volume status is accurately estimated. If inappropriate therapy is given because of errors in volume assessment, acute mortality rates are increased. Unfortunately, as the gold standard of radioisotopic volume measurement is costly and time-consuming, in the acute care environment clinicians are forced to rely on less accurate measures. In this manuscript, the authors review the currently available techniques of volume assessment for patients presenting with acute illness...