Echocardiography monitoring

INTRODUCTION: No evidence-based protocols exist for fetal cardiac monitoring during fetoscopic myelomeningocele (fMMC) repair and intraprocedural spectral Doppler data is limited. We determined the feasibility of continuous fetal echocardiography during fMMC repair and correlated Doppler changes with qualitative fetal cardiac function during each phase of fMMC repair. METHODS: Patients undergoing fMMC repair had continuous fetal echocardiography interpreted in real-time by pediatric cardiology...

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: Preserved ejection fraction heart failure and obesity frequently coexist. Whether obesity plays a consistent role in the pathogenesis of preserved ejection fraction heart failure is unclear. Accumulation of visceral adiposity underlies the pathogenic aftermaths of obesity. However, visceral adiposity imaging is assessed by computed tomography or magnetic resonance and thus not routinely available. In contrast, epicardial adiposity thickness is assessed by echocardiography and thus routinely available...

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively analyze the myocardial work of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) by use of the pressure-strain loop and to investigate the clinical factors that affect myocardial work in the left ventricle. METHODS: We analyzed data from 50 control patients and 180 case patients, with 70 cases in group A (T2D only), 40 cases in group B (T2D + high blood pressure), 33 cases in group C (T2D + coronary heart disease), and 37 cases in group D (T2D + high blood pressure + coronary heart disease)...

BACKGROUND: Pediatric obesity is a global emerging burden for society; among its health-related consequences there are hypertension (HTN) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Several anthropometric indices have been investigated for the early identification of cardiovascular risk in children. The aim of the present study was to assess whether tri-ponderal mass index (TMI) was associated with LVH in a cohort of Caucasian children and adolescents with obesity. METHODS: In this observational study, 63 children and adolescents with obesity aged 7-to-16 years were enrolled...

BACKGROUND: Anesthesia for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients undergoing spinal deformity surgery is challenging. We report an unusual case of an SMA girl who developed severe intraoperative hypoxemia and hypotension during posterior spinal fusion related with surgical positioning. CASE PRESENTATION: A 13-yr-old girl diagnosed with SMA type 2, severe kyphoscoliosis and thoracic deformity was scheduled for elective posterior spinal fusion. She developed severe hypoxemia and profound hypotension intraoperatively in the prone position with surgical table tilted 45° to the right...

AIMS: The European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) Scientific Initiatives Committee performed a global survey on radiation exposure in interventional echocardiography. The survey aimed to collect data on local practices for radioprotection in interventional echocardiography and to assess the awareness of echocardiography operators about radiation-related risks. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 258 interventional echocardiographers from 52 different countries (48% European) responded to the survey...

Interventricular septum pellet retention after air-gunshot injury in a persistently asymptomatic patient is a rare, clinically significant occurrence. Management involved monitoring, echocardiography, and computed tomography scans. After risk-benefit analysis, we favored a nonsurgical management without prophylactic antibiotics or colchicine. No post-traumatic pericarditis was observed. Patient remained asymptomatic and in excellent condition at 1-month follow-up.

Background  Continuous monitoring using implantable cardiac monitors (ICMs) results in atrial fibrillation (AF) detection rates of up to 30% in patients with cryptogenic stroke (CS). Although higher age is an independent risk factor for AF, there are no age-specific recommendations for the implantation of ICM. Objective  The aim of this study was to analyze age-related AF rates in patients with CS and continuous rhythm monitoring, to determine the rates of oral anticoagulation (OAC) and recurrent cerebrovascular events (stroke or transient ischemic attack) in patients with ICM-detected AF, and to describe the temporal relationship of AF detection and recurrent cerebrovascular events...

BACKGROUND: Cardiac arrhythmias are very common in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), especially atrial fibrillation (AF) and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NVST). Cardiac autonomic dysfunction and structural remodeling caused by OSA provide the milieu for cardiac arrhythmia development. This study aimed to determine whether OSA is associated with various cardiac arrhythmias and investigate potential pathophysiologic pathways between them. METHODS: The analysis covered 600 patients with clinical suspicion of OSA hospitalized in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between January 2020 and May 2023...

Introduction: Erythropoietin (EPO) acts primarily in regulating red blood cell production mediated by high EPO receptor (EPOR) expression in erythroid progenitor cells. EPO activity in non-erythroid tissue is evident in mice with EPOR restricted to erythroid tissues (ΔEPORE) that become obese, glucose-intolerant, and insulin-resistant. In animal models, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) contributes to EPO activities including erythropoiesis, neuroprotection, and cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury...

BACKGROUND A paradoxical air embolism (PAE) occurs when air entering the central venous circulation reaches the systemic circulation, occurring through an intracardiac shunt or intrapulmonary shunting. Patients presenting for liver transplantation often have intrapulmonary shunting due to pulmonary arterial vasodilation, even in the absence of hepatopulmonary syndrome. Here, we present a case of hemodynamic collapse believed to be caused by a PAE, which was diagnosed intraoperatively with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)...

BACKGROUND: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection, resulting from non-primary maternal infection or reactivation during pregnancy, can cause serious fetal abnormalities, complications in the immediate neonatal period, and severe sequelae later in childhood. Maternal non-primary cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy is transmitted to the fetus in 0.5-2% of cases (1). CASE PRESENTATION: An African full term male newbornwas delivered by emergency caesarean section...

Dietary lipid manipulation has recently been proposed for managing glycogen storage disease (GSD) type IIIa. This study aimed to evaluate the myopathic, cardiac, and metabolic status, physical activity, growth, and dietary compliance of a personalized diet high in protein and fat for 24 months. Of 31 patients with type IIIa GSD, 12 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 10 patients (mean age 11.2 ± 7.4 years) completed the study. Patients were prescribed a personalized high-protein, high-fat diet, comprising 3...

The pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) driven by lipotoxicity is incompletely understood. Given the urgent need for animal models that accurately mimic cardio-metabolic HFpEF, a hyperlipidemia-induced murine model was developed by reverse engineering phenotypes seen in HFpEF patients. This model aimed to investigate HFpEF, focusing on the interplay between lipotoxicity and metabolic syndrome. Hyperlipidemia was induced in wild-type (WT) mice on a 129J strain background through bi-weekly intraperitoneal injections of poloxamer-407 (P-407), a block co-polymer that blocks lipoprotein lipase, combined with a single intravenous injection of adeno-associated virus 9-cardiac troponin T-low-density lipoprotein receptor (AAV9-cTnT-LDLR)...

PURPOSE: Ultrasound imaging is commonly used in decompression research to assess venous gas emboli (VGE) post-dive, with higher loads associated with increased decompression sickness risk. This work examines, for the first time in humans, the performance of a novel electrical impedance spectroscopy technology (I-VED), on possible detection of post-dive bubbles presence and arterial endothelial dysfunction that may be used as markers of decompression stress. METHODS: I-VED signals were recorded in scuba divers who performed standardized pool dives before and at set time points after their dives at 35-minute intervals for about two hours...

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) describes rapid heart rhythms originating from the ventricles. Accurate diagnosis of VT is important to allow prompt referral to specialist services for ongoing management. The diagnosis of VT is usually made based on electrocardiographic data, most commonly 12-lead echocardiography (ECG), as well as supportive cardiac telemetric monitoring. Distinguishing between VT and supraventricular arrhythmias on ECG can be difficult. However, the VT diagnosis frequently needs to be made rapidly in the acute setting...

Background: Systemic microvascular regression and dysfunction are considered important underlying mechanisms in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but retinal changes are unknown. Methods: This prospective study aimed to investigate whether retinal microvascular and structural parameters assessed using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) differ between patients with HFpEF and control individuals (i.e., capillary vessel density, thickness of retina layers). We also aimed to assess the associations of retinal parameters with clinical and echocardiographic parameters in HFpEF...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE: Echocardiographic strain analysis by speckle tracking allows assessment of myocardial deformation during the cardiac cycle. Its clinical applications have significantly expanded over the last two decades as a sensitive marker of myocardial dysfunction with important diagnostic and prognostic values. Strain analysis has the potential to become a routine part of the perioperative echocardiographic examination for most anesthesiologist-echocardiographers but its exact role in the perioperative setting is still being defined...

Bedside ultrasound represents a well-suited diagnostic and monitoring tool for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) who may be too unstable for transport to other hospital areas for diagnostic tests. The role of ultrasound, however, starts even before ECMO initiation. Every patient considered for ECMO should have a thorough ultrasonographic assessment of cardiac and valvular function, as well as vascular anatomy without delaying ECMO cannulation. The role of pre-ECMO ultrasound is to confirm the indication for ECMO, identify clinical situations for which ECMO is not indicated, rule out contraindications, and inform the choice of ECMO configuration...