51 research outputs found
Correlates of aortic root size in a population-based screening by hand-held echocardiography: "The Heart in the City" Study
No full textOur experience underscores the ability of hand-held echocardiography to identify the association between aortic root dilation and left
ventricular mass in a population-based screening among normotensive and hypertensive participants of “The Heart in the City”, a project
designed to detect pre-clinical echocardiographic markers of heart failure by hand-held echocardiography.
© 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved
Right ventricular dysfunction in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textObjective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to describe the features of right ventricular impairment and pulmonary hypertension in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and assess their effect on mortality. Design: The authors carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Setting: The authors performed a search through PubMed, the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and the Cochrane Library for studies reporting right ventricular dysfunction in patients with COVID-19 and outcomes. Participants: The search yielded nine studies in which the appropriate data were available. Interventions: Pooled odds ratios were calculated according to the random-effects model. Measurements and Main Results: Overall, 1,450 patients were analyzed, and half of them were invasively ventilated. Primary outcome was mortality at the longest follow-up available. Mortality was 48.5% versus 24.7% in patients with or without right ventricular impairment (n = 7; OR = 3.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.72-5.58; p = 0.0002), 56.3% versus 30.6% in patients with or without right ventricular dilatation (n = 6; OR = 2.43; 95% CI 1.41-4.18; p = 0.001), and 52.9% versus 14.8% in patients with or without pulmonary hypertension (n = 3; OR = 5.75; 95% CI 2.67-12.38; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring respiratory support and with a diagnosis of right ventricular dysfunction, dilatation, or pulmonary hypertension is high. Future studies should highlight the mechanisms of right ventricular derangement in COVID-19, and early detection of right ventricular impairment using ultrasound might be important to individualize therapies and improve outcomes
Hand-held echocardiography: its use and usefulness.
No full textIn recent years, several echocardiographic hand-held devices have been developed and are now available for a growing number of cardiologists. After the first clinical use 25 years ago, hand-held echocardiography (HHE) is now earning important commercial positions. Their transportability permits echo performance out the echo-labs and offers the possibility to make diagnosis in intensive care unit, emergency room, outpatient clinic, at the bedside, and even in ambulance. Experiences in the clinical setting have demonstrated the ability of HHE to detect multiple diseases including abdominal aortic aneurysms, left ventricular hypertrophy, regional wall motion abnormalities, pericardial and pleural effusions. At the present time, four varieties of HHE have to be recognized: the first includes high-cost, miniaturized machines, similar to the most advanced instrumentations, provided by new tools and imaging transfer systems; a second intermediate, middle-cost variety encompasses devices corresponding to standard echocardiography, but not miniaturized; according to the definition of the American Society of Echocardiography, a third and a fourth category comprise machines of weight lower than 2.7 kg, battery supplied and appropriately defined as "portable cardioschopes", which can be utilized as a technical refinement of physical examination. The use of HHE opens main controversy concerning their diagnostic accuracy, the opportunity to establish in which clinical settings they should be used and the identification of both potential users and required competence level. Preliminary experiences show the possibility to improve and anticipate diagnosis of several cardiovascular diseases but also the need to plan specific ultrasound training to avoid incorrect use of HH
The impact of ageing on right ventricular longitudinal function in healthy subjects: a pulsed tissue Doppler study.
No full text
Clinic and ambulatory pulse pressure segregate a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors”
No full textHypertension and stable coronary artery disease: an overview.
No full textSystemic hypertension is highly prevalent in stable coronary artery disease, a pervasive comorbidity complicating the diagnostic performance and interpretation of non-invasive provocative tests in chest pain patients because of the ischaemic signals generated, despite normal or near normal coronary arteries, by hearts structurally readapted by long-term exposure to raised systemic blood pressure. Additional and unresolved problems posed by arterial hypertension in patients with stable coronary artery disease regard the benefits of antihypertensive treatment due to reports of irrelevant, if not detrimental, effect of blood pressure (BP) lowering in averting coronary relapses as well as the lack of association between BP levels and incident coronary events in survivors from acute myocardial infarction. Uncertainties extend to BP-independent cardioprotective effects of antihypertensive drugs, although the efficacy of renin-angiotensin system blockers in the long-term prevention of cardiovascular events in stable coronary artery disease patients has been shown by several studies, particularly when combined with amlodipine, a dihydropiridine calcium channel blocker. In contrast, the long-term effect of beta-blockers, the antihypertensive class most used in that clinical category, is not supported by strong evidence except that generated in patients with systolic dysfunction and early postmyocardial infarction recovery periods
Clinic and ambulatory pulse pressure segregate a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors”
No full textClinic and ambulatory pulse pressure segregate a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors”
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