OBJECTIVES To compare transesophageal atrial pacing stress echocardiography with dobutamine stress echocardiography for feasibility, safety, duration, patient acceptance and concordance in inducing wall motion abnormalities. BACKGROUND Transesophageal atrial pacing is an effective method of increasing heart rate and has been used in the assessment of coronary artery disease. METHODS Both te...

A 56 year old man presented with an atypical chest infection. Remote inferoposterior myocardial infarction was noted on electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography. Hepatic failure developed with sudden gross elevation of liver aminotransferases and coagulopathy. No primary hepatic cause could be identified. Subsequent right heart failure led to transoesophageal echocardiography that...

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown etiology characterized by noncaseating granulomas in involved organs. Organs involved with sarcoidosis include lymph nodes, skin, lung, central nervous system, and eye. Only 40-50% of patients with cardiac sarcoidosis diagnosed at autopsy have the diagnosis made during their lifetime. Cardiac sarcoidosis can manifest itself as comple...

Purpose: To determine whether radiographic heart morphology and echocardiography findings were associated with early central venous catheter (CVC) failure in hemodialysis patients. Materials & Methods: All hemodialysis catheter insertions between 1996-2007 were captured in a combined nephrology radiology database. Factors were identified that may be associated with early catheter failure. Facto...

a2-year-old cachectic cross-breed gelding was admitted toveterinary teaching hospital of university of tehran followingthe onset of a marked respiratory distress, coughing and ventraledema. clinical examinations indicated harsh respiratory andexpiratory sounds as well as jugular vein distention. therespiratory and heart rates were 35/min and 60 bpm, respectively.agrade iii/iv pansystolic murmur...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate the proportion of suspected heart failure patients with significant valvular heart disease. Early diagnosis of valve disease is essential as delay can limit treatment and negatively affect prognosis for undiagnosed patients. The prevalence of unsuspected valve disease in the community is uncertain. PARTICIPANTS We prospectively evaluated 79 043 pa...

A young man with IHSS who developed complete heart block was successfully treated with a permanent pacemaker. Echocardiography and other noninvasive techniques showed marked cycle-to-cycle variation in the evidence of subvalvular obstruction which decreased markedly when atrial systole preceded the ensuing paced complex by an appropriate interval. Because cycle length and therefore afterload we...

Letter to the Editor With interest we read the article by Marseglia et al. about a 6yo boy with nemaline myopathy (NM) but without evidence for previous cardiac disease who experienced non-triggered asystole, underwent prolonged resuscitation, and died 1 week later from secondary cerebral hypoxia [1]. We have the following comments and concerns. Was the previous history positive for palpitation...

Carcinoid tumors are associated with the production of a number of bioactive substances that might deposit on the endocardium (endocardial fibroelastosis) and produce cardiac failure. Carcinoid heart disease usually presents as right-sided valvular heart disease. Even if the diagnosis is frequently made by transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging adds valuable informat...

Methods The patient is a 66y old male referred for evaluation of aortic stenosis, and presenting with fatigue, class III heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, 1st degree AV block, LBBB, previous stroke and moderate CKD. EuroSCORE I was 5.35% and EuroSCORE II was 1.98%. Echocardiography confirmed severe aortic stenosis, with an annulus 0.8 cm2, mean and peak systolic gradient 54 and 86 mmHg, an...