OBJECTIVE To investigate transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in the identification of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) flow for assessing graft patency. DESIGN The initial study group comprised 45 consecutive patients with previous CABG undergoing elective cardiac catheterisation for recurrent ischaemia. The Doppler variables best correlated with angiographic graft patency were then tes...

Objective. Retrosternal goiters pose a significant challenge in determining the indications and appropriate approach for surgical removal while limiting postoperative morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to use the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to compare outcomes of transcervical and transthoracic approaches for retrosternal goiter removal an...

BACKGROUND The correlation between normal cardiac chamber linear dimensions measured during retrospective coronary computed tomographic angiography as compared to transthoracic echocardiography using the American Society of Echocardiography guidelines is not well established. METHODS We performed a review from January 2005 to July 2011 to identify subjects with retrospective electrocardiogram...

BACKGROUND To compare the right and left transthoracic approach on the post-operative survival of patients with lymph node-negative esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS Six hundred and ninety-five ESCC patients who underwent esophagectomy between 1990 and 2005 were retrospectively enrolled in the present study and were confirmed by histology to be of no lymph node metastasis. Those who...

EDITOR,-We read with interest the article by O'Sullivan et al.' The nine presented patients went through extensive investigations, including echocardiograms in all cases. Yet, no evidence of an embolic or atheromatous aetiology was found. Unfortunately, the authors failed to mention whether the echocardiography was transthoracic or transoesophageal. We had experience with a 29-year-old woman, w...

Two hundred and five patients who received a total of 247 electrode systems-129 transvenous, 68 transmediastinal and 50 transthoracic-are compared after complete uniform two-year followup. The transvenous patients had low hospital morbidity (19%) and short hospital stays (75% < 8 days) but a high incidence of electrode failure by 24 months (38%). The transmediastinal and transthoracic patients ...

The increasing cost of healthcare is a widespread international problem to which the cost of imaging has been an important contributor. Some imaging tests are ordered inappropriately and contribute to wasted use of resources. Appropriate use criteria have been developed in the USA in order to guide test selection, but there are a number of problems, including the evidence base for these criteri...

OBJECTIVE To assess the value of transoesophageal echocardiography in the preoperative definition of systemic and pulmonary venous connections. DESIGN Transoesophageal echocardiographic studies were performed prospectively under general anaesthesia in 76 consecutive unoperated children. Results were compared with those obtained by earlier transthoracic ultrasound studies (n = 76), cardiac cat...

AIM This study was conducted to evaluate whether left atrial strain and strain rate correlate well with transesophageal parameters of stunning after atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-two consecutive patients with chronic atrial fibrillation >/=3 months and <1 year were enrolled in the study. Transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) echocardiography with color Doppler myocar...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Stroke is the third leading cause of death in most Western countries. Cardioembolism might be responsible for 15% to 20% of ischemic strokes. Although atrial fibrillation can be diagnosed by electrocardiography, the remaining causes of cardioembolic stroke are diagnosed by echocardiography. Recent recommendations on the management of acute ischemic stroke fail to consider...