Acute Circulatory Failure: Pharmacological and Mechanical Support
In 1913, Sir James MacKenzie, physician in charge of the cardiac department at the London Hospital, defined cardiac failure as a condition in which ‘the heart is unable to maintain…
Myocardium and Development
The developing heart appears to be simply a smaller version of the adult heart, based on global function. The ventricles of the adult and the developing heart fill with blood,…
Physiology of the Developing Heart
The heart is the first organ to become fully functional in the developing embryo, providing the circulatory system necessary for embryogenesis and subsequent fetal development when growth can no longer…
Terminology
It might reasonably be thought that those who diagnose and treat patients with congenitally malformed hearts would, by now, have reached consensus concerning the most appropriate way of describing the…
Systemic Circulation
The systemic circulation refers to the circulation in which blood is carried from the systemic ventricle, which is the left ventricle in the setting of ventriculo-arterial concordance, through a network…
Pulmonary Circulation
Understanding the features of the pulmonary circulation is critically important in the management of patients with congenitally malformed hearts. The past 10 years have seen remarkable advances in our understanding…
Fetal Echocardiography
Malformations of the heart and arterial trunks are the most common form of congenital anomalies found in humans. They occur in approximately 6 of every 1000 live births, and in…
Aetiology of Congenital Cardiac Disease
Perhaps one of the most vexing aspects of congenital cardiac disease is the current inability to explain its origin. Environmental causes have been invoked, and until recently only scant evidence…
Prevalence of Congenital Cardiac Disease
Examination of the frequency of congenital cardiac disease, either as a rate or as a proportion, has important implications for the study of congenital cardiac malformations, as well as their…
Sonographer’s Perspective of Evaluating Diastolic Function
INTRODUCTION Heart failure, a common ailment in older adults, is a major public health epidemic in the United States that affected 5.2 million people in 2006. Diagnosis of systolic heart…
