OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate to what extent timing definitions influence strain measurements and which surrogates are reliable and feasible to define end-diastole (ED) and end-systole (ES) during speckle-tracking (STI) analysis. BACKGROUND Current STI-based strain measurements are highly automated. It remains unclear when a particular analysis software defines the zero baseline ...

The management of valvular heart disease has markedly changed during the past decades. The timing of intervention—surgically and more recently also by catheter intervention—is no longer primarily driven by the goal of symptom relief for the patient. Treatment strategies aim now for an optimal long-term outcome with regard to both morbidity and mortality. The observation that patients may have a...

V alve replacement for aortic stenosis is easily recognized as life saving, because of the short survival of most patients with advanced symptomatic stages of aortic stenosis. However, there is an increased late mortality from congestive heart failure occurring years after the aortic valve replacement. This problem has been thought to relate to irreversible myocardial changes, manifested morpho...

The management of valvular heart disease has markedly changed during the past decades. The timing of intervention—surgically and more recently also by catheter intervention—is no longer primarily driven by the goal of symptom relief for the patient. Treatment strategies aim now for an optimal long-term outcome with regard to both morbidity and mortality. The observation that patients may have a...

The management of valvular heart disease has markedly changed during the past decades. The timing of intervention—surgically and more recently also by catheter intervention—is no longer primarily driven by the goal of symptom relief for the patient. Treatment strategies aim now for an optimal long-term outcome with regard to both morbidity and mortality. The observation that patients may have a...

The Miller cycle, using an early inlet valve closing, can significantly improve the overall efficiency of a spark ignition engine during partial load operations. shorter intake event minimizes need for throttling air and so reduces pumping losses. This method is known as “dethrottling”. Indeed, use variable lift system makes it possible to combine two different cam profiles in engine, one full ...

Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (tPVR) has evolved into a viable alternative to surgical conduit or bioprosthetic valve replacement. This procedure has paved the way for a more advanced approach to congenital and structural interventional cardiology. Although many successes have been noted, there are still a number of challenges with this procedure, including large delivery systems, t...