We sought to test the effectiveness of the ECG as a measure of increased left ventricular wall mass in children with high blood pressure. One hundred eighty-one children, ages 9-18 years, were selected from the lowest, middle and highest quintile of systolic blood pressure from the Muscatine Study, based upon two biennial school screenings. After correction for age, sex, height, weight and skin...

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) allows identification of airway wall structures and could potentially be utilised for in vivo studies of airway thickening in asthma. The present study investigated whether inflation of the fluid-filled balloon sheath over the transducer (necessary to provide sonic coupling with the airway wall) influenced in vitro measurements. In vivo comparability of EBUS with...

BACKGROUND Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac MRI (CMR) has been described as an independent predictive factor of cardiovascular events among patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). LGE and Q waves are considered as myocardial scar markers but their relation in the context of HCM is poorly established and has to be more supported. The objective of the study was to compare ECG...

BACKGROUND Previous studies in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were limited by study cohorts with comorbidities that confound assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function. We comprehensively evaluated LV function using 2-dimensional echocardiography (2DE), tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), and 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) in subjects moderate-severe OSA, who were compar...

Uterine wall tension is thought to be an important determinant of the onset of labor in pregnant women. We characterize human uterine wall tension using ultrasound from the second trimester of pregnancy until parturition and compare preterm, term and twin pregnancies. A total of 320 pregnant women were followed from first antenatal visit to delivery during the period 2000-2004 at the John Hunte...

BACKGROUND We aimed to study left ventricular (LV) geometry assessed by length (LVWL), external diameter (LVEDD) and relative wall thickness (RWT) in relation to age, body size and gender in healthy individuals. METHODS 1266 individuals underwent echocardiography in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT3), Norway. Septum thickness (IVS), posterior wall thickness (LVPWd) and end-diastolic inte...

BACKGROUND Cycle-dependent variation of myocardial integrated backscatter (CV-IB) is an objective measurement that may detect myocardial abnormalities. However, no data exist about the prognostic value of CV-IB in primary cardiac amyloidosis. METHODS AND RESULTS We prospectively examined 208 consecutive biopsy-proven patients with primary amyloidosis. The magnitude of CV-IB was analyzed at th...

background: there are two kinds of ascites, cirrhotic and malignant. the conventional diagnostic method to differentiate them is paracentesis. this is an invasive and time consuming method. however, ultrasonography is an easy and available method to provide valuable results in a short period of time. the aim of this study was to evaluate gallbladder wall thickness in differentiating cirrhotic a...

PURPOSE To characterize posterior scleral thickness in the normal monkey eye and to assess the effects of acute (15- to 80-minute) and short-term chronic (3- to 7-week) intraocular pressure (IOP) elevations. METHODS Both eyes of four normal monkeys (both eyes normal) and four monkeys with early glaucoma (one eye normal and one eye with induced chronic elevation of IOP) were cannulated. In eac...