BACKGROUND Our study aimed to investigate the feasibility of velocity vector imaging (VVI) to analyze left ventricular (LV) myocardial mechanics in rabbits at basal state. MATERIAL AND METHODS The animals used in this study were 30 New Zealand white rabbits. All rabbits underwent routine echocardiography under VVI-mode at basal state. The 2-dimensional (2-D) echocardiography images acquired i...

BACKGROUND We examined the hypothesis that retardation of apical filling as measured by color M-mode Doppler echocardiography in the diseased left ventricle (LV) reflects a decrease in the intraventricular mitral-to-apical pressure gradient. METHODS AND RESULTS In 9 open-chest anesthetized dogs, micromanometers were placed near the mitral tip and in the apical region. From the color M-mode Do...

BACKGROUND Right ventricular (RV) systolic performance is more difficult for evaluation compared to the left ventricle (LV). Despite differences in structure, RV myocardial fibers are in continuity with those of LV. The aim is assessment of the effects of LV wall motion abnormalities (WMA) on RV systolic function at rest and after stress. METHODS Fifty nine subjects, 15 with LV-WMA underwent ...

background: n-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (nt-probnp) is a sensitive biomarker for the detection of asymptomatic left ventricular (lv) dysfunction. since β-thalassemia major patients suffer from early diastolic dysfunction due to iron deposition of chronic blood transfusion, we tried to evaluate the correlation between the serum nt-probnp level and the severity of lv diastolic dysfun...

OBJECTIVE An arterial switch operation converts the left ventricle (LV) into the systemic ventricle, replacing the right ventricle (RV), which is the systemic ventricle during the prenatal period. The procedure is performed in patients with arterial transposition and those in whom a coronary reimplantation procedure is performed. Therefore, the adaptation of LV and RV to the arterial switch ope...

BACKGROUND Left ventricular (LV) torsion plays a key role in cardiac efficiency. In hypertension, aortic stiffening augments cardiac afterload. However, little is known about the links between LV regional contraction and aortic stiffness. We, therefore, investigated these relationships and their contribution to LV diastolic function. METHODS AND RESULTS The study included normotensive and hyp...

Previously it was shown that left ventricular (LV) myocardial contractility can be assessed from the instantaneous relation between velocity of fiber shortening and maximum LV wall tension (VcF at max T). Such analysis is complex, requiring frame-by-frame correlation of LV dimensions with pressure, and a simpler approach was sought. In 50 patients the mean velocity of circumferential fiber shor...

BACKGROUND Pregnancy is a physiological process associated with an increased hemodynamic load and cardiac structural remodeling. Limited echocardiographic information exists on cardiac chambers, left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic functions, and LV mass during trimesters of normal pregnancy among African women. MATERIALS AND METHODS Echocardiography was done at the beginning of the s...

PURPOSE Severe aplastic anemia (SAA), a fatal disease, requires multiple transfusion, immunosuppressive therapy, and finally, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) as the definitive treatment. We hypothesized that iron overloading associated with multiple transfusions and HSCTrelated complications may adversely affect cardiac function. Left ventricular (LV) function was assessed in chi...

OBJECTIVES We investigated the cause of the midsystolic drop (MSD) in left ventricular (LV) ejection velocities that are observed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and severe obstruction. BACKGROUND Dynamic obstruction is an important determinant of symptoms and adverse outcome. The MSD in velocity and flow occurs in patients with gradients >60 mm Hg. The nadir velocity in the LV occurs ...