Background. Efficient early diastolic filling is essential for normal cardiac function. Diastolic suction, as evidenced by a decreasing left ventricular pressure during early filling, could result from restoring forces (the release of potential energy stored during systolic deformation) dependent on myofilament relaxation. Although these restoring forces have been envisioned within individual m...

Little is reported about primary cardiac osteosarcoma from mitral valve. We report a surgical case of primary cardiac osteosarcoma arising from mitral valve. The patient was a 54-year-old woman with congestive heart failure caused by mitral regurgitation due to a tumor (30 × 20 mm) from the posterior leaflet. We performed complete resection of the tumor combined with the mitral valve and replac...

The #ow structures generated by a pressure-controlled self-oscillating valve are investigated both experimentally and numerically. Schlieren #ow visualization experiments show that a stable vortex is developed downstream of the valve during the closing phase of the valve. During the opening phase of the valve, this vortex moves downstream and dissipates. An experimental study of the vortex inte...

BACKGROUND The surgical approach to aortic root aneurysm and/or dissection remains controversial. The use of valve-sparing operations, which are thought to have many advantages, is increasing. We hypothesized that the particular technique and type of surgery could influence valve motion characteristics and function. Therefore, we studied the instantaneous opening and closing characteristics of ...

OBJECTIVES The emerging new treatment options for aortic valve disease call for more sophisticated diagnostics. We aimed to describe the echocardiographic pathophysiology and characteristics of the purely regurgitant aortic valve in detail. METHODS Twenty-nine men, with chronic aortic regurgitation without concomitant heart disease referred for aortic valve intervention, underwent 2D transoes...

Harmful algal blooms produced by toxic dinoflagellates have increased worldwide, impacting human health, the environment, and fisheries. Due to their potential sensitivity (e.g., environmental changes), bivalves through their valve movements can be monitored to detect harmful algal blooms. Methods that measure valve activity require bivalve-attached sensors and usually connected cables to data ...

Introduction: Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (SOVA) may have associated infective endocarditis in which case single aneurysm may drain into adjacent chamber of heart via multiple openings. We report a rare case of congenital SOVA with associated infective endocarditis where intraoperative transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) helped in localizing two separate openings in the SOVA draining into right...

Auscultatory and echocardiographic and phonocardiographic studies were performed on 26 patients who had a total of 11 Lillehei-Kaster, 16 Björk-Shiley, and 18 St Jude heart valve prostheses functioning normally in the aortic or mitral positions or both. With all types and positions of prostheses a distinct closing sound was always detected. It was frequently heard in two parts which, according ...

We develop accurate analytical relations for the droplet volume ratio, droplet length during breakup process, and pressure drop of asymmetric T junctions with a valve in each of the branches for producing unequal-sized droplets. An important advantage of this system is that after manufacturing the system, the size of the generated droplets can be changed simply by adjusting the valves. The resu...

This paper presents a novel latchable phase-change microvalve that can potentially be used for flow gating in portable lab-on-a-chip systems here minimal energy consumption is desired. The microvalve innovatively exploits paraffin wax of low melting point, whose solid–liquid phase hanges allow the closing and opening of fluid flow through deformable microchannel ceiling. The latchable phase-cha...