For characterization of left ventricular function using changes in heart rate, we performed right atrial pacing in 16 patients during right and left heart catheterizations. Hemodynamic data was obtained before pacing (B), during pacing (D), and immediately after (A) the sudden interruption of pacing, for assessment of the consequences of rapid changes in stroke volume. In 10 patients with norma...

BACKGROUND Published reference values for echocardiographic measurements of right-heart dimensions and function do not stratify for gender and body size. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the impact of gender and biometric characteristics on right-heart dimensions and function. METHODS From the echocardiography database at a tertiary care center, 1,625 subjects (mean age, 44 ± 14 ...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with progressive impairment of right ventricular function, reduced exercise capacity and a poor prognosis. Little is known about the prevalence, clinical manifestation and impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) on cardiac function in PH. METHODS In a four year single-centre retrospective analysis 225 patients with confirmed PH of various origin...

Section 1 A 23-year-old right-handed man with a diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 3 presented with right facial droop, hemiparesis, and expressive aphasia. CT angiography revealed a thrombus in the distal left middle cerebral artery. IV tissue plasminogen activator was administered and he recovered without any residual deficit. His cardiac monitoring revealed episodes of atrial fi...

Severe pulmonary hypertension (PAH) leads to right ventricular dysfunction and is associated with different atrial arrhythmias. In PAH patients, the echocardiographic Tei-index is used for monitoring right heart function. The P-wave signal-averaged ECG (SA-ECG) has been shown to have a potential role in identifying patients at risk of developing paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and those likely t...

A 3-year-old Chinese boy was diagnosed with ipsilateral congenital malformations: right lung hypoplasia, dextroversion of heart, atrial septal defect, hepatic vein drainage directly into the right atrium, facial asymmetry, right microtia and congenital deafness, and indirect inguinal hernia. He underwent indirect inguinal hernia repair at the age of 2. Although without any facial plastic surger...

Purpose. The aim of this project was to establish a database of left and right ventricular and left atrial dimensions in healthy volunteers using steady-state free precession cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, the clinical technique of choice, across a wide age range. Methods. 108 healthy volunteers (63 male, 45 female) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging using steady-state free prece...

In order to investigate whether the sensitivity of atrial type-B receptors to its natural stimulus is altered during acute haemodilution, experiments were conducted in nine anaesthetized, artificially ventilated and thoracotomized cats. Haemodilution was achieved by replacement of blood by the same volume of dextran (MW 150000). Atrial receptor activity, arterial blood pressure, right atrial pr...