Background: The revival of the off-pump, closed, beating, intracardiac approach requires revisitation of access to, and visualization of the target. We report our experience with the Universal Cardiac Introducer® (UCI) for safe, versatile, intracardiac access. Method: The UCI is comprised of an attachment-cuff and an airlock-introductory chamber to prevent bleeding and air embolism. The utility...

Prosthetic aortic valve and conduit dehiscence with periconduit cavity and ascending aortic aneurysm is an uncommon complication of aortic root surgery. It is usually recognizable at echocardiography due to an abnormal position of the prosthetic valve and conduit in relation to the native aortic annulus in conjunction with an abnormal echolucent periconduit space that fills with color flow. Mit...

A 4-year-old girl with a history of a moderate-sized secundum atrial septal defect and mild mitral valve prolapse underwent transcatheter closure with a 22-mm Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) (AGA Medical Corporation, Golden Valley, Minn) device. Approximately 12 months later, she presented to the emergency department in septic shock with a 5-day history of fevers up to 105°F and was transferred...

The slope of the posterior left ventricular wall motion in diastole (LVDS) was determined by echocardiography in 25 normal subjects and 21 patients with mitral stenosis. Patients with mitral stenosis had reduced LVDS that was related to the degree of mitral stenosis determined by calculated mitral valve area (r = 0.92). The mitral valve area correlated more closely with the LVDS than with the l...

Echocardiographically recorded mitral valve motion was compared with phasic transmitral flow in 17 open chest dogs. The normal mitral valve opening started with the onset of mitral flow and reached its full excursion while flow was still accelerating. Complete valve opening occurred .044 sec (plus or minus .002 sem) before peak flow, during which time an average of 17.6 percent of total mitral ...

A quantitative assessment of mitral valve orifice area can be achieved in patients with pure mitral stenosis by cardiac catheterization. In the presence of mitral regurgitation, however, accurate measurement often is impossible because total diastolic flow through the mitral valve frequently is unknow. Using a recently developed real-time, two-dimensional echocardiography system, we are able to...

Background: Successful mitral valve repair and replacement are dependent upon a full understanding of normal and abnormal mitral valve anatomy and function. The functional components of the mitral valve include: the left atrial wall, the annulus, the leaflets, the chordae tendineae, the papillary muscles, segments of the left ventricular myocardium. Abnormal anatomy or function of any one of th...

OBJECTIVES (a) To assess the echocardiographic incidence of restenosis after successful balloon dilatation of the mitral valve at a mid-term follow up of one year among a population of predominantly United Kingdom patients. (b) To identify any factors, assessed before or during dilatation, which may predict the development of restenosis. DESIGN Successful dilatation of the mitral valve was de...