Objective: Predictors for post-operative reverse remodeling in patients with severe aortic regurgitation (AR) and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are unknown. We performed low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) in patients with severe AR and reduced LVEF to evaluate the relationship between contractile reserve (CR) and reverse remodeling after surgery. Methods: In 31 patients with chronic severe AR and reduced LVEF (LVEF < 50%), we performed pre-operative DSE, assessed CR and examined whether changes in preoperative DSE were associated with improvement of post-operative LVEF after aortic valve surgery. Results: The pre-operative echocardiographic findings were as follows: left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic dimension: 67 ± 10 mm, LV end-systolic dimension: 52 ± 13 mm and LVEF: 42% ± 8%. All patients underwent aortic valve surgery. Patients with pre-operative LVEF of >45% exhibited a significant increase in LVEF; however, patients with pre-operative LVEF of <45% showed no significant change. When we examined the results of DSE performed in patients with pre-operative LVEF of <45%, ΔLVEF of ≥6% (with CR) during DSE was related to an improvement in post-operative LVEF; ΔLVEF of ≥6% during DSE predicted an improvement in post-operative LVEF, with a sensitivity and specificity of 80% and 85%, respectively. Conclusions: DSE may be a helpful tool for predicting post-operative reverse remodeling in patients with severe AR and moderately reduced LVEF.

An 86-year-old man with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis with an arteriovenous fistula in his left upper extremity presented to his hemodialysis session with thrombosis of his arteriovenous fistula. The patient underwent surgical thrombectomy. The patient later showed evidence of peripheral embolization and livedo reticularis. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms revealed a large thrombus (5x2 cm) in the left atrium prolapsing to the right atrium via a patent foramen ovale and another thrombus (white arrow) adherent to the apical wall of the right ventricle. The thrombus in the left atrium was intermittently crossing the mitral valve and entering the left ventricle.

In this report, we present a rare case of severe mitral regurgitation due to isolated mitral valve chordal rupture without valve leaflet prolapse in a patient with Fabry cardiomyopathy. This finding could be due to subvalvular apparatus storage of glycosphingolipids rather than fibro-elastic deficiency, underlying how close cardiological follow-up of Fabry patients must be comprehensive and not only focused on left ventricular hypertrophy and arrhythmias. We feel that our finding could be of interest for the readership of your Journal.

Transthoracic and transesophageal imaging of the 30-year-old patient who presented with palpitations and shortness of breath revealed flow from the aorta to the right atrium. Aortic-right atrial fistula, which is a rare anomaly, was evaluated. It was considered congenital, as there was no acquired cause. Since the patient was symptomatic, it was closed percutaneously with the Amplatzer Duct Occluder II device.

Echocardiography is commonly utilized in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) for assessment of cardiac function, volume status, and the potential development of acute cor pulmonale. In severe ARDS, prone positioning is frequently used, which imposes technical challenges during transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) image acquisition. Moreover, prone positioning can affect cardiopulmonary function in ways that are reflected on the echocardiographic findings in this position. Historically, a transesophageal approach was recommended when a patient is prone, with few studies reporting utility of TTE in this setting. However, recent publications have begun to address this knowledge gap. This review explores recent literature addressing the use of TTE in prone patients with ARDS, with a special focus on the cardiopulmonary effects of proning and potential solutions to the technical difficulties that arise in this position.

Background: Early cardiovascular impairment in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients is often overlooked, leading to irreversible outcome. Left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) derived from automated function imaging (AFI) echocardiography provides a fast tool to assess global longitudinal function. We therefore aimed to compare the feasibility and reproducibility of AFI with mitral annulus plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) as obesity is common in OSA. Methods: A comprehensive echocardiographic examination was done in 186 consecutive patients having polysomnography for suspected OSA in this prospective study. MAPSE was measured by using M-mode. AFI was derived by offline analysis of three long-axis views that semi-automatically detects LV endocardial boundary, which is adjusted manually as necessary. Variability of AFI and MAPSE were compared among the different subgroups and further tested in BMI subgroups. Results: Despite a relatively high obesity rate (42.9%), AFI was feasible in 94% (175/186) patients and MAPSE could be recorded in all patients. Although more segments were measured with AFI it showed excellent correlation (r=0.882) superior to MAPSE (r=0.819) between the expert and beginner. Intra- and inter- observer variability of AFI were comparable with MAPSE in Bland-Altman analysis, 5.5% and 6.5% for AFI, 6.2% and 8.8% for MAPSE, respectively. In repeated measurements, AFI showed higher intra-class correlation (ICC=0.95) than MAPSE (ICC=0.87). Furthermore, analysis showed that AFI was feasible even in more obese patients (BMI≥28kg/m2). Conclusions: Even in obese patients with OSA, AFI-GLS is feasible and more reliable for less expert operators than MAPSE for detecting LV longitudinal dysfunction.

Background: Because transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) has become effective for preventing cryptogenic stroke (CS), it is necessary to determine high-risk PFO associated with CS. This study aimed to clarify the importance of direct right-to-left (RL) shunt through the PFO for identifying high-risk PFO. Methods: We analyzed 137 patients with and without CS who were confirmed to have PFO. The timing of RL shunt through the PFO was evaluated by cardiac cycles after right atrium (RA) opacification on saline contrast transesophageal echocardiography. Direct RL shunt was defined as microbubbles crossing the PFO before and at the same time of RA opacification. Results: Cardiac cycles of microbubbles crossing the PFO were shorter in patients with CS than in those without CS (2.0 ± 2.2 vs. 0.5 ± 1.1, P < .01). Direct RL shunt was more frequently observed in patients with CS than in those without CS (77% vs. 29%, P < .01), with a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 71% for the association with CS. Multivariate analysis revealed that direct RL shunt was related to atrial septal aneurysm and low-angle PFO. Regarding functional features of PFO, the detection rate of CS was 50% for large RL shunt alone, and was increased to 83% when direct RL shunt was added. Conclusion: Direct RL shunt was associated with CS and had the incremental value in detecting PFO associated with CS for large RL shunt. The timing of RL shunt can be valuable for identifying high-risk PFO.

Spontaneous pseudoaneurysm of the aortic arch is an exceptionally rare and potentially life-threatening condition.Diagnosis of pseudoaneurysms of the aortic arch mainly depends on imaging examinations.Contrast-enhanced echocardiography, as a non-invasive, bed-side and radiation-free tool, plays an important role in the rapid diagnosis and postoperative follow-up of pseudoaneurysms of the aortic arch.

Rheumatic heart disease is the most common cause of mitral valve stenosis. Left atrial appendage thrombus is associated with mitral stenosis, but in rare cases the thrombus can extend to the left atrial cavity. We present a case of a severe rheumatic mitral stenosis and associated large left atrial thrombus, with embolic sequelae.

Background: Concern exists regarding adequacy of visualization of stress echocardiograms performed without intravenous contrast in persons with Class III obesity (body mass index ≥ 40 kg/m2). Methods: Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) was performed on 128 candidates for bariatric surgery with class III obesity without chest pain or pre-existent coronary artery disease (CAD). DSE without intravenous contrast was initially performed on 62 patients with class III obesity, then was subsequently was performed with intravenous contrast on 66 patients with class III obesity. Left ventricular (LV) regional wall motion was assessed at baseline and peak stress using the 16-segment model. Results: In the intravenous contrast group 1046 of 1056 LV segments studied (99.1%) were well-visualized and interpretable at baseline and 1044 of 1056 LV segments studied (98.9%) were well-visualized and interpretable at peak stress. In the non-contrast group 905 of 992 segments studied (91.2%) were well-visualized and interpretable at baseline and 886 of 992 segments studied (89.3%) were well-visualized and interpretable at peak stress. A significantly greater number of LV segments were well-visualized and interpretable in the intravenous contrast group than in the group compared to the non-contrast group, at baseline and at peak stress (p < 0.00001 for both). DSE was positive for ischemia in 1 patient. All patients underwent bariatric surgery without cardiovascular complications. Six months after surgery, all patients were alive; none developed cardiovascular events. Conclusion: The use of intravenous contrast during DSE significantly improves visualization and interpretability of LV segments in patients with class III obesity.

Purpose: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has a positive effect on the improvement of functional mitral regurgitation in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. However geometric changes in the mitral valve apparatus, subvalvular structures and their contribution to the improvement of mitral regurgitation after CRT have not been clearly defined. The aim of our study was to evaluate the geometric parameters of mitral valve apparatus measured with 3Dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before CRT implantation and to determine the parameters predicting the improvement of mitral regurgitation after CRT. Methods: In this prospective study thirty patients with moderate or severe mitral regurgitation with low EF heart failure planned for CRT implantation and had an indication for TEE were included. Effective regurgitant orifice (ERO) and regurgitant volume (RV) measurements were performed before CRT implantation. Detailed quantitative measurements of mitral valve were done from recorded images by 3D TEE. ERO, RV measurements were repeated to evaluate mitral regurgitation at the end of 3rd month. Results: There were no significant changes in left ventricular EF and left ventricular diameters at third month follow-up, whereas ERO and RV values were decreased. posterior leaflet angle was found higher in non-responder group compared to responder group. (28,93 ± 8,41 vs 41,25 ± 10,90, p = 0,006). Conclusion: Heart failure patients with moderate or severe functional mitral regurgitation who underwent CRT implantation were found lower posterior leaflet angle which was measured by 3D TEE in the patient group whose mitral regurgitation improved after CRT.

In case of valvular infective endocarditis, the infection is mainly localized on the flow side of the valves or at damaged valvular endothelium. We describe a rare case of an aortic valvular inefctive endocarditis with an aortic-valve vegetation situated on the aortic side of the valve. We believe this is the first description of this unusual localization of vegetations in a native aortic valve.

Pulmonary artery and pulmonary valve sarcoma are malignant and very rare vascular tumors with aggressive clinical course and very poor outcomes. Patients affected by coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) are at higher risk for thromboembolism complication. we describe young woman with history of corona virus pneumonia and progressive dyspnea, hemodynamic disturbance, edema with initial evaluation and clinical diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism. But further imaging study and pathology demonstrated, Giant sarcoma of pulmonary valve, obstructing pulmonary valve and extending to right ventricular outflow tract and main of pulmonary artery.

BACKGROUND. Multiple Doppler Echocardiography (DE) algorithms have been proposed to estimate mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAPM) and assess pulmonary hypertension (PH) likelihood. We assessed the accuracy of 4 different DE approaches to estimate PAPM in patients with heart failure (HF) undergoing near-simultaneous right heart catheterization (RHC), and compared their diagnostic performance to identify PH with recommendation-advised tricuspid regurgitation peak velocity (TRVmax). METHODS. PAPM was retrospectively assessed in 112 HF patients employing 4 previously validated DE algorithms. Association and agreement with invasive PAPM were assessed. Diagnostic performance of DE methods vs. TRVmax=2.8m/sec to identify invasive PAPM ≥ 25mmHg were compared. RESULTS. All DE algorithms demonstrated reasonable association (r = 0.41 to 0.65; p<0.001) and good agreement with invasive PAPM, with relatively lower mean bias and higher precision observed in algorithms that included TRVmax or velocity time integral. All methods demonstrated strong ability (AUC=0.70-0.80; p<0.001) to identify PH but did not outperform TRVmax (AUC=0.84; p<0.001). Echocardiographic estimates of right atrial pressure were considered in 3 of 4 DE algorithms and falsely elevated in as many as 30% of patients. CONCLUSIONS. Echocardiographic estimates of PAPM demonstrate reasonable accuracy to represent invasive PAPM and strong ability to identify PH in HF. However, even the best performing algorithm did not outperform recommendation-advised TRVmax. The additional value of echocardiographic estimates of right atrial pressure may need to be re-evaluated.

Introduction Pregnancy is a process that causes several physiological changes including all systems as well as cardiovascular system. Ventricular hypertrophy and dilation of cardiac chambers are seen as a result of these changes. Although there are studies about pregnancy-related changes in echocardiographic examination; there is no data about the long-term effects of parity on these alterations. Therefore, we have evaluated the long-term effect of pregnancy on right ventricular (RV) dilation and RV hypertrophy and their relation to the parity number. Methods This prospective study included a total of 600 women (200 consecutive women who had no parity, 200 women who had a parity number of 1 to 4 and 200 women who had a parity number of more than 4). Right chambers’ measurements were compared between the groups. Results In echocardiographic analysis, RV and right atrial dimensions and areas and RV wall thickness were higher in parous women. On the other hand, RV systolic function parameters were significantly lower in parous women. These significant changes showed a gradual increase or decrease by increasing parity number. There were also independent relationship between the number of parity and RV hypertrophy even after adjustment for several confounders. Conclusion Pregnancy-related physiological changes mostly resolve after delivery. This study about long-term effects of pregnancy on RV has demonstrated that there is a significant relation between the number of parity and either RV dilation or RV hypertrophy. Each parity had also additive effect on these changes.

Abnormal pulmonary venous flow patterns on fetal echocardiography and a nutmeg lung pattern on fetal magnetic resonance imaging are seen in patients with pulmonary venous stenosis. The association between these findings and the degree of pulmonary venous stenosis remains unknown. We report an extremely rare case of a fetus diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome complicated by an absent atrial septum and supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection with left pulmonary venous congestion. This case suggests that compared to non-pulsatile continuous pulmonary venous flow, the nutmeg lung pattern can only be observed with severe pulmonary congestion and advanced pulmonary lymphangiectasia.

BACKGROUND: Systemic thromboembolism is a known complication of rheumatic mitral stenosis (RMS) in sinus rhythm (SR). Left atrial appendage (LAA), the commonest site of thrombus formation is usually hypocontractile (inactive) in such patients. We aimed to study the prevalence of LAA inactivity (LAAI) in severe RMS and assess its independent predictors. METHODS: The study population consisted of 100 patients of severe RMS in sinus rhythm. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography were done to assess LAA contractile function. Patients with LAA-peak emptying velocity <25 cm/sec were defined as having LAAI. RESULTS: The mean age of study subjects was 31.66±8.69 years and 56% were females. 73% patients had LAAI (Group A), while remaining 27% had normal LAA function (Group B). Mitral-valve area (MVA) and lateral annulus systolic velocity (Sa-wave) were significantly lower while mean pressure gradient across mitral valve (MGMV) and serum fibrinogen were significantly higher (all p-values <0.001) in group A patients. On multivariate regression analysis, MGMV (p<0.001), Sa-wave (p=0.02) and serum fibrinogen (p=0.005) were independent predictors of LAAI. Optimal cut-off values of MGMV, Sa-wave and serum fibrinogen for predicting LAAI were 11.5mmHg, 6.8cm/sec and 300mg/dL respectively.67(90.55%) patients in group A compared to 13(48.1%) in group B had LA/LAA smoke. LAAI was the only independent predictor of left atrium (LA)/LAA smoke and associated thrombus. CONCLUSION: There is high prevalence of LAAI in patients of severe MS in SR. MGMV, Sa-wave and serum fibrinogen levels are independent predictors of LAAI. LAAI is an independent predictor of LA/LAA smoke and associated thrombus.

Background: We aim to investigate prognostic effects of carotid strain (CS) and strain rate (CSR) in hypertension. Methods: We prospectively recruited 120 patients being treated for hypertension (65.8 ± 11.8 years, 58% male) in this observational study. Peak circumferential CS and peak CSR after ejection were identified using two-dimensional speckle tracking ultrasound. Major cardiovascular events were any admission for stroke, acute coronary syndrome, and heart failure. Results: After a mean follow-up period of 63.6 ± 14.5 months, 14 (12%) patients had cardiovascular events. Age (75.3 ± 9.2 vs. 64.6 ± 11.6 years; p = 0.001), systolic blood pressure (131.8 ± 15.5 vs. 143.1 ± 16.6 mmHg; p = 0.021), diastolic blood pressure (74.6 ±11.4 vs. 82.1 ± 12.2 mmHg; p = 0.039), use of diuretics (71 vs. 92 %; p = 0.014), carotid CS (2.17 ± 1.02 vs. 3.28 ± 1.14 %; p = 0.001), and CSR (0.28 ± 0.17 vs. 0.51 ± 0.18 1/s; p <0.001) were significantly different between the patients who did and did not reach the end-points. Multivariate Cox regression analysis controlling for age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and use of diuretics showed that CS (HR 0.425, 95%CI 0.223-0.811, p = 0.009) and CSR (HR 0.001, 95%CI 0.000-0.072, p = 0.001) were independent predictors for cardiovascular events. Conclusion: In conclusions, decreased CS and CSR were associated with cardiovascular events in hypertension.