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’…
An increasing number of patients are implanted with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) for the treatment of severe congestive heart failure. In parallel with this growing experience has been…
Background The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of a new miniaturized echocardiographic system (MS) to perform bedside echocardiography in initial outpatient cardiology consultations, in addition to…
Background The aim of this study was to investigate the imaging capabilities of recent hand-held ultrasound scanners. Methods Three hundred forty-nine patients were scanned with hand-held ultrasound (HAND) and high-end…
