Background Left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) can be estimated by the formula (5/6) × area × length, or the “bullet” method. The aim of this study was to determine the…
Background It has been hypothesized that the extent of acute anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity reflects the risk for late development of heart failure. The aim of this study was to examine if…
Background Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in chronic heart failure (HF) is associated with poor prognosis. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an established method of improving prognosis in HF. However, the…
Background Systolic reserve is an important compensatory mechanism against increasing afterload. Although longitudinal systolic dysfunction with preserved ejection fraction has been reported in hypertensive hearts, radial and circumferential function has…
Background Although marathon running is associated with transient right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction as detected by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography, quantitative assessment of the right ventricle is difficult because of its…
Background The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of passive smoking on left ventricular (LV) function in healthy volunteers. Methods Sixty-one healthy nonsmoking volunteers were enrolled…
A Brief History of Predicting Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Thousands of articles have been published on cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with heart failure. Many of these articles…
Background Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become part of the standard of care for the treatment of advanced heart failure. However, knowledge of normal values for transthoracic echocardiographic…
Background The aim of this study was to determine the impact of prolonged left ventricular assist device (VAD) support on cardiac ventricular geometry and VAD flow kinetics. Methods Nineteen patients…
Background The basic reservation concerning the use of hand-carried echocardiographic devices by general practitioners has been a lack of data demonstrating that they would provide clinically important information on patients’…
