BACKGROUND Left ventricular ejection fraction remains the primary risk stratification tool used in the selection of patients for implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy. However, this solitary marker fails to identify a substantial portion of patients experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. In this study, we examined the incremental value of considering right ventricular ejection fraction fo...

An improved method of noninvasive assessment of pulmonary arterial pressure is presented. The already existing radionuclide method for assessment of pulmonary arterial pressure based on right ventricular ejection fraction, although having a relatively good positive predictive accuracy (75 percent), lacks in specificity and correlates only weakly with pulmonary arterial pressure, r = .66. In the...

INTRODUCTION Little is known about the time-course changes in left ventricular myocardial deformation in patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) using layer-specific quantification of myocardial deformation assessed by 2-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE). CASE SUMMARY In this retrospective 2DSTE follow-up study of 3 female patients with sepsis-induced TC, we examined c...

This study sought to investigate whether the presence of right ventricular systolic dysfunction with pre-existing left ventricular systolic dysfunction is associated with higher plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, compared with patients with isolated left ventricular dysfunction. Eighty-five patients referred for evaluation of isotopic ventricular function were prospectively included...

Ventricular volume parameters were determined in 14 patients with isolated atrioventricular (AV) canal (Group I), five patients with AV canal and pulmonary stenosis (Group II) and 17 patients with ostium primum defect (partial AV canal) (Group III). Right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) volume parameters were determined from biplane cineangiocardiograms according to Simpson's rule me...

Peak aortic blood acceleration is recognized to be a sensitive index of global left ventricular performance. In the present study peak acceleration was assessed noninvasively in patients with a continuous-wave Doppler velocity meter. Peak aortic blood velocity and peak blood acceleration were measured by placing the ultrasonic transducer at the suprasternal notch. Measurements were obtained in ...

A study was performed to test the hypothesis that Doppler echocardiographic measurement of ascending aortic blood flow can detect exercise induced changes in left ventricular performance during exercise in patients suspected of having ischaemic heart disease. Acceleration and peak velocity of flow and stroke volume were determined by non-imaging Doppler echocardiography in the suprasternal notc...

RATIONALE Although transient reduction in the left ventricular ejection fraction is characteristic of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, little is known about the time-course changes of myocardial deformation in coronary vasospasm-related Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. PATIENT CONCERNS We retrospectively analyzed the time-course changes in left ventricle, right ventricle, and left atrium strain values in a...

The response of right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) during exercise and its relationship to the location and extent of coronary artery disease are not fully understood. We have recently developed and validated a new method for scintigraphic evaluation of RVEF using rapid multiple-gated equilibrium scintigraphy and multiple right ventricular regions of interest. The technique has been app...