In sicker hearts, right atrial pressure (an estimation of right ventricle preload) are not equivalent to left atrial pressure (an estimation of left ventricle preload). Both right and left atrial pressures are frequently estimated using invasive techniques and also transthoracic echocardiography. While right atrial pressure is easy to obtain with transthoracic echocardiography, the assessment o...

background: more diagnostic techniques require a better understanding of the forces and stresses developed in the wall of the left ventricle. the aim of this study was to differentiate significant coronary artery disease (cad) patients using a non-invasive quantification of myocardial wall stress in the diastole phase. methods: sixty male subjects with sinus rhythm (30 patients with significant...

infective endocarditis is a serious complication of intravenous (iv) drug abuse, with a reported mortality of 5 to 10%. a 21-year-old man, who was an intravenous drug abuser, presented with fever and dyspnea. transthoracic echocardiography showed a highly mobile, large vegetation on the anterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve. despite antibiotic therapy for ten days, the patient remained febril...

Two cases are described of a most unusual variant of two-chambered right ventricle. In both the ventricular septal defect was between the distal chamber of the right ventricle and the left ventricle. However the extensive dividing 'septum' between proximal and distal parts of the right ventricle converted the latter, haemodynamically, into part of the left ventricle. In the first case the dista...

OBJECTIVES Trends in coronary bypass surgery require less invasive techniques and more conduits. We investigated the ability of direct coronary perfusion from the left ventricle to support regional and global cardiac function. METHODS A conduit was established between the left ventricle and left anterior descending coronary artery (n = 6) with an interposed Starling resistor that allowed for ...

Two pathological specimens are presented in which the morphological left ventricle contains the right atrioventricular ostium, completely or in its major portion and, totally, the left atrioventricular ostium. It is suggested from a consideration of these cases and of the pathological material available in the literature that this constitutes an entity that can be usefully separated from the he...

Congenital communication between left coronary artery to left ventricle is a rare anomaly. A 52-year-old male patient visited our institution complaining of paroxysmal palpitation and echocardiography revealed a large fistula draining into the left ventricle. Coronary angiography and computed tomography (CT) scanning confirmed the fistula located between the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX...

A 52-year-old heart-lung transplant patient presented to the emergency department with acute onset of neurologic symptoms. MRI showed ballooning of the left ventricle, midline shift and contrast enhancement in the anterior horn of the left ventricle. Ventricle neuroendoscopy revealed whitish, floccose aerial structures within the left ventricle. Brain biopsy cultures grew Rhizopus arrhizus. The...

A 5-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital with chest pain, fever and dyspnea. Physical examination showed normal heart sounds, diminished pulmonary sounds in the left hemithorax and a normal ECG. On chest X-ray the heart was slightly enlarged with moderate left pleural effusion. CT scan revealed pleural effusion and a hypodense mass at the apex of the heart. A cystic mass was detected...

Right ventricular loading/pressure influences left ventricular function because the two ventricles pump in series and because they are anatomically arranged in parallel, sharing the common ventricular septum. Flattening of the interventricular septum detected during echocardiographic examination is called D-shaped left ventricle. We present a case of an elderly male of African descent, who pres...