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…
Aging and Diastolic Heart Failure
INTRODUCTION The number of seniors in the United States and throughout the developed world is rising. As of 2003, roughly 36 million, or 12%, of the U.S. population were older…
Evaluation of Intracardiac Filling Pressures
INTRODUCTION Normal diastolic function allows a ventricle to fill to an adequate volume while maintaining normal diastolic pressures at rest, during exercise, and through a wide range of heart rates….
Congenital Heart Disease
INTRODUCTION As invasive and noninvasive methods of assessment of ventricular performance evolve, the clinical importance of diastolic function in both children and adults with congenital heart disease has become better…
Primary Restrictive, Infiltrative, and Storage Cardiomyopathies
“A classification serves to bridge the gap between ignorance and knowledge.” J. F. Goodwin INTRODUCTION Historically, restrictive cardiomyopathies were among the three primary forms of idiopathic heart muscle disease characterized…
