BACKGROUND Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a widely used cardiac imaging technique that all cardiologists should be able to perform competently. Traditionally, TTE competence has been assessed by unstructured observation or in test situations separated from daily clinical practice. An instrument for assessment of clinical TTE technical proficiency including a global rating score and a c...

Introduction: Cyclophosphamide (CYP) is an alkylating agent, which is used in different diseases. It has several important side effects on ovaries. Tribulus terrestris extract (TTE) has different steroidal saponins and has been used for a long time as an aphrodisiac. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of TTE on the toxicity of CYP in the ovary of rats. Methods: For...

BACKGROUND In patients with aortic stenosis (AS), precise assessment of severity is critical for treatment decisions. Estimation of aortic valve area (AVA) with transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE)-continuity equation (CE) assumes a circular left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). We evaluated incremental utility of 3D multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) over TTE assessment of AS severity....

We sought to prospectively evaluate the clinical application of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Society of Echocardiography Appropriateness Criteria (AC) for transthoracic echocardiography in a single-center university hospital. Indications for transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) were prospectively determined for consecutive studies by 2 reviewers and categorized, accordi...

Background Accurate assessment of the proximal thoracic vasculature in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) is vital in deciding the appropriate surgical or interventional procedure and predicting outcomes. In most infants this information is obtained by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). When the image quality is limited by TTE, Contrast Enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) is frequently utilized. ...

OBJECTIVES The study evaluated the additional benefit of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) versus transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in pediatric cases with suspected bacterial endocarditis. BACKGROUND In adult patients, TTE has a lower sensitivity and specificity than TEE for the detection of vegetations or aortic root abscess formation. Few data are available about the relative benef...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine whether transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) can provide safety and efficacy equivalent to transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for assessment and guidance of transcatheter atrial septal defect (ASD) closure in pediatric patients. METHODS We performed a prospective randomized trial of ASD closure using the Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) from March ...

BACKGROUND Cardiac output (CO) monitoring is a valuable tool for the diagnosis and management of critically ill patients. In the critical care setting, few studies have evaluated the level of agreement between CO estimated by transthoracic echocardiography (CO-TTE) and that measured by the reference method, pulmonary artery catheter (CO-PAC). The objective of the present study was to evaluate t...

OBJECTIVE To determine the reliability of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in predicting the size of an atrial septal defect (ASD). MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 16 patients who underwent the catheter-based procedures to close an atrial septal defect between February 2008 and December 2011 at the Paediatrics Clinic, CCU Sarajevo, after ...