Always at a Crossroads
Every other year, in June, the leadership and membership of the board of the Council of Cardiac and Vascular Sonography goes through a transition. This year, we have some new…
Early Changes in Left Ventricular Long-Axis Function in Friedreich Ataxia: Relation with the FXNGene Mutation and Cardiac Structural Change
Objective Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive condition due to a GAA triplet expansion in the FXN gene that causes increased left ventricular (LV) wall thickness and can progress…
Cardiac Resynchronization by Cardiosphere-Derived Stem Cell Transplantation in an Experimental Model of Myocardial Infarction
Background Cardiosphere-derived stem cell (CDC) transplantation can improve global left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of CDC…
Reversible Left Ventricular Regional Non-Uniformity Quantified by Speckle-Tracking Displacement and Strain Imaging in Patients with Acute Pulmonary Embolism
Background The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of acute right ventricular pressure overload (RVPO) on left ventricular (LV) function and regional uniformity using speckle-tracking displacement and…
Echo and Stem Cell Therapy: More Than Just an Ejection Fraction
In the beginning there is the stem cell; it is the origin of an organism’s life. It is a single cell that can give rise to progeny that differentiate into…
The Prevalence of Echocardiographic Accretions on the Leads of Patients with Permanent Pacemakers
Background The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of echocardiographic “accretions” on intracardiac leads in patients with permanent pacemakers. Methods Two hundred eleven patients…
Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Prevalence and Correlates of Apical Outpouching
Background Apical outpouching, including wall motion abnormalities and aneurysms, has been described in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM). Methods Between 1976 and 2006, 193 patients with ApHCM (120 men; overall mean…
Different Flow Patterns Between Left and Right Internal Thoracic Artery Grafts Influence the Evaluation of Severe Graft Stenosis by Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography
Objective An increase in the diastolic to systolic flow velocity ratio (D/S) in the proximal left internal thoracic artery (ITA) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) enables noninvasive assessment of…
Echocardiography: A Requisite Friend of the Cardiac Geneticist
In this issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography , Mottram et al. illustrate the role of echocardiography in the early detection of the expression of a mutation…
Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve in the Three Main Coronary Arteries Assessed with Transthoracic Doppler: A Comparative Study with Quantitative Coronary Angiography
Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of combined use of transthoracic Doppler echocardiographic coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) measurements and findings of retrograde coronary flow…
