BACKGROUND Precise evaluation of the aortic root geometry prior to transcatheter aortic valve implantation is important for procedural success in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). To determine the potential for 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE), the aims of the present study were: (1) to assess the accuracy of 3DTEE measurements of the aortic root using multidetector comp...

The high accuracy of multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) in evaluating prosthetic valve disorders has been confirmed. This, we believe, is the 1st report of the use of MDCT to detect and evaluate left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) pseudoaneurysms in patients who have undergone aortic valve replacement with prosthetic valves. We used MDCT to scan 21 such patients, 3 of whom had a sma...

Asymmetric septal hypertrophy (ASH) is considered the unifying link in the spectrum of hypertrophic cardiomyopathies. ASH and mitral valve systolic anterior motion (SAM) are the two most important echocardiographic criteria for the diagnosis of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS). Ten patients found have SAM without ASH were studied. Septal thickness, thickening, and excursion wer...

A 57-year-old woman with known hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) presented with dyspnea and fatigue, consistent with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III heart failure. The patient had previously undergone percutaneous transluminal myocardial ablation (PTSMA) twice at another hospital. Echocardiography revealed a “protruding myocardium,” systolic anterior motion o...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) – is the most common genetically determined heart disease, characterized by symmetrical or asymmetrical myocardial thickening (≥15 mm), leading to progressive failure and a high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Diagnosis, natural course treatment HCM have become sources uncertainty, misunderstanding debate due increasing complexity diagnosis in clinical prac...

Abstract Case n. 1 A 77 year–old woman with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who had undergone alcohol septal ablation a reduction in dynamic left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradient from 95 to 65 mmHg was hospitalized for pulmonary oedema. Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization confirmed the presence of mmHg, identified severe calcific mitral stenosis (3D planimetric area= 0...

Abstract Background Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) has been used as a key criterion for the management of mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with heart failure (HF), including decision about valve repair. However, LVEF, not taking into account regurgitant volume, may be an imprecise predictor outcome HF MR. Conversely, estimation forward volume through LV outflow tract (LV...

The OBJECTIVE was to estimate the left ventricular stroke volume calculated using Reuleaux triangle formula, and compare with parameters obtained from measurements in ventricle outflow tract. METHODS AND MATERIALS. A prospective cross-sectional study of dimensions tract (LVOT), aortic valve, velocity-time integral (VTI) carried out, followed by calculation LVOT valve 36 patients receiving renal...