OBJECTIVE The SAVE study showed that captopril improves mortality in patients with left ventricular dysfunction after myocardial infarction and that this benefit occurred even in patients with no clinically overt heart failure. On the basis of this, it seems important to identify correctly which patients have left ventricular dysfunction after a myocardial infarction. The objective was to compa...

Synthetic marijuana is an uptrending designer drug currently widely spread in the US. We report a case of acute deterioration of nonischemic left ventricular dysfunction after exposure to synthetic marijuana. This case illustrates the importance of history taking in cardiac patients and identifies a negative cardiovascular effect of synthetic marijuana known as K2, not yet well detected by urin...

This study sought to investigate whether the presence of right ventricular systolic dysfunction with pre-existing left ventricular systolic dysfunction is associated with higher plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, compared with patients with isolated left ventricular dysfunction. Eighty-five patients referred for evaluation of isotopic ventricular function were prospectively included...

Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular heart disorder in older adults. Patients with severe AS are generally treated nonsurgically if asymptomatic and referred to aortic valve replacement when symptoms develop. However, patients with severe asymptomatic AS with left ventricular dysfunction may benefit from early aortic valve replacement. Although operative mortality in patients with s...

BACKGROUND Enhanced advanced glycation end products deposition within myocardial tissue may cause diastolic dysfunction. However, whether this is related to left ventricular hypertrophy or inappropriate left ventricular mass remains unclear. METHODS We prospectively enrolled 139 subjects at risk for cardiovascular diseases. We used echocardiography for measurements of left ventricular mass an...

A 39 year old man with postoperative constrictive pericarditis after pericardiectomy developed major left ventricular systolic dysfunction with an anterior wall infarct pattern on ECG but no regional wall motion abnormalities by echocardiography or serum enzymatic evidence of a myocardial infarction. The left ventricular dysfunction resolved over two weeks with supportive treatment. It is postu...

BACKGROUND Cardiac structure and function are well-studied in Western countries. However, epidemiological data is still scarce in China. METHODS Our study was conducted in the framework of cardiovascular health examinations for the current and retired employees of a factory and their family members. According to the American Society of Echocardiography recommendations, we performed echocardio...

We report on a 44-year-old woman presenting with chest pain and dyspnoea without previous stress-related events. By means of echocardiography severe left ventricular dysfunction and wall motion abnormalities resembling stress-induced cardiomyopathy (Tako Tsubo) were seen. Laboratory investigation revealed thyrotoxicosis and elevated cardiac markers. Six days after starting medical treatment, co...

Ventricular dysfunction remains a hallmark of most cardiac disease. The mouse has become an essential model system for cardiovascular biology, and echocardiography an established tool in the study of normal and genetically altered mice. This review describes the measurement of ventricular function, most often left ventricular function, by echocardiographic methods in mice. Technical limitations...