Happy New Year!
Marti L. McCullough, BS, MBA, RDCS, FASE Have you chosen a New Year’s resolution yet? Well, if you are not currently accepting students as a clinical site for hands-on experience,…
Continuing Education and Meeting Calendar
The American Society of Echocardiography recognizes courses as supplements to formal training in an established echocardiographic laboratory. For more information about a course, please call the number listed. To list…
Pressure-Volume Relationship During Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography Predicts Exercise Tolerance in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure
Background The pressure-volume relationship (PVR) is a useful method for evaluating left ventricular (LV) myocardial contractility during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). The investigators assessed PVRs, systolic and diastolic function, B-type…
Can We Make Sense of Impending Changes in Reimbursement?
Please forgive the not-so-humorous pun, but some would wonder if we are going be able to make “cents” of the projected changes in reimbursement for echocardiographic services (and many other…
Validation of a New Score for the Assessment of Mitral Stenosis Using Real-Time Three-Dimensional Echocardiography
Background The aim of this study was to validate a new real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) score for evaluating patients with mitral stenosis (MS). Methods A two-staged study was conducted. In…
Circumferential and Longitudinal Strain in 3 Myocardial Layers in Normal Subjects and in Patients with Regional Left Ventricular Dysfunction
Background The left ventricle is not homogenous and is composed of 3 myocardial layers. Until recently, magnetic resonance imaging has been the only noninvasive technique for detailed evaluation of the…
Cardiac Segmental Analysis in Left Ventricular Noncompaction: Experience in a Pediatric Population
Background Echocardiography has been used to diagnose and describe left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC). No other study has investigated LVNC using the 16-segment model described by the American Heart Association and…
Utility of Real-Time Three-Dimensional Transesophageal Echocardiography in Evaluating the Success of Percutaneous Transcatheter Closure of Mitral Paravalvular Leaks
Background The percutaneous closure of mitral paravalvular leaks has been reported in patients who are poor operative candidates. Unsuccessful percutaneous closure of leaks may be related to morphologic characteristics of…
Left Ventricular Noncompaction: Travelling the Road from Diagnosis to Outcomes
During my training as a pediatric cardiologist, I recall standing at the bedside of an ill newborn as an echocardiogram was being performed. My attending physician pointed out the findings…
A Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Chloral Hydrate Versus Inhaled Anesthesia for Sedating Infants and Toddlers for Transthoracic Echocardiograms
Background Pediatric patients may need sedation for a transthoracic echocardiogram. Due to the unpredictability and safety concerns with chloral hydrate, we offered mask anesthesia as an alternate strategy. Methods A…
