Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Multicenter longitudinal data are lacking regarding the incidence and time needed for total left ventricular thrombus (LVT) regression obtained with contemporary antithrombotic regimens diagnosed modern echocardiographic technology. Purpose To quantify effect therapy on LVT evolution using sequential up-to-date echocard...

INTRODUCTION 'Decompression stress' is commonly evaluated by scoring circulating bubble numbers post dive using Doppler or cardiac echography. This information may be used to develop safer decompression algorithms, assuming that the lower the numbers of venous gas emboli (VGE) observed post dive, the lower the statistical risk of decompression sickness (DCS). Current echocardiographic evaluatio...

Backpack carriage occurs in day-to-day tasks and has applications in school, physical training, recreational activities and sports. Using metabolic cart and echocardiograph, this study determined and examined the effects of two different load carriages on left ventricular function during 30 min. of treadmill walking in healthy adolescent male subjects. Seventeen males (13.1 ± 0.5 yrs.) walked o...

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) plasma levels are commonly high at the early phase of septic shock and have been suggested to be prognostic markers for this condition. It is uncertain, however, whether this increase reflects sepsis related cardiac dysfunction. In a recent issue of Critical Care, Mokart and coworkers showed the accuracy of NT-proBNP in pre...

In recent time, ultrasound imaging is a popular modality for various medical applications. The presence of speckle noise affects difficulties on features extraction and quantitative measurement of ultrasound images. This paper proposes a new method to suppress the speckle noise while attempting to preserve the image content using combination of Gaussian filter and discrete cosine transform (DCT...

BACKGROUND The surgical treatment of patency ductus arteriosus is indicated when the clinical intervention fails. However, this treatment may have some complications. OBJECTIVE To analyze clinical and surgical aspects involved on the treatment of patency ductus arteriosus in premature newborn. METHODS Twenty two premature newborns, submitted to surgical treatment for patency ductus arterios...

The use of contrast media provides a greater diagnostic yield for echocardiographic techniques.1 In combination with the possibility of performing myocardial perfusion studies, its use can be generalized in stress echocardiography. It therefore leads us to question the safety they afford concerning adverse reactions, an issue that has recently led to the temporary withdrawal from the market of ...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction associated with heart failure (HF) carry a poor prognosis. Although endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs) demonstrated benefits in pulmonary arterial hypertension, their efficacy in PH associated with HF was not specifically evaluated. 2 weeks after myocardial infarction (MI) rats received bosentan (100 or 200 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1)...

As the traditional cardiovascular control laboratory has disappeared from the first-year medical school curriculum, we have recognized the need to develop another "hands-on" experience as a vehicle for wide-ranging discussions of cardiovascular control mechanisms. Using an echocardiograph, an automatic blood pressure cuff, and a reclining bicycle, we developed protocols to illustrate the change...

The meta-analysis of Huang and coworkers failed to find any evidence for a protective effect of a decreased left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF). These results have to be interpreted with caution since in most studies included in the meta-analysis patients with LV systolic dysfunction received inotropic drugs. We have some arguments suggesting that such a treatment may improve macrocirc...