Journal of Cardiovascular Echography最新文献

We present the case of a 69-year-old man with an aortic biological prosthetic valve. In May 2019, the patient experienced increasing dyspnea and fatigue: A diagnosis of prosthetic aortic valve dysfunction was made, leading to severe valvular insufficiency. The dysfunction of the prosthetic valve seemed to be linked to a previous infective endocarditis: after ruling out active endocarditis, the patient was treated with an off-label valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

The differential diagnosis of intracardiac masses is challenging. Cardiac myxomas are benign primary heart tumors and most often are confused with thrombi in diagnosis. In some cases, the embolic complication of intracardiac masses can be fatal. We present a patient who had two nightmare complications simultaneously. A mobile left atrial mass detected and decided surgical excision. But the mass had vanished one day after and caused ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and bilateral lower limb ischemia.

A 72-year-old woman, recently COVID-19 vaccinated with a third dose, was referred to our center for acute chest pain and dyspnea. On admission, the electrocardiography showed a STEMI on inferior derivations and the dyskinesia of the inferior wall was found at the first transthoracic echocardiogram. The coronary angiography did not show coronary artery disease. After 1 week, a huge posterolateral left ventricular (LV) aneurysm with initial signs of rupture was found and the patient underwent a Dor's procedure to exclude the LV aneurysm. As far as we know, this is the first reported case of Takotsubo following the COVID-19 vaccination requiring cardiac surgery.

We present the case of a young man with "noncardiac" chest pain, subsequently diagnosed as Wellens' syndrome. We report the early changes in left ventricular global longitudinal strain imaging findings in these patients despite preserved ejection fraction, and review the features associated with this stereotypical cardiac condition. The patient underwent a successful percutaneous coronary intervention.

We present the case of a 52-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital for a bilateral pulmonary embolism. On the 5^th day of hospitalization, an acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred. A transesophageal echocardiogram was performed and it demonstrated a large patent foramen ovale with a consistent right-to-left shunt. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was performed and it demonstrated multiple bilateral renal ischemic areas. CEUS represents a valid alternative to computed tomography or magnetic resonance to confirm the diagnosis of bilateral kidney infarction, especially in patients who experience an AKI.

Aims: The athlete's heart in power training is characterized by physiologic concentric remodeling. Our aim was to analyze left ventricular (LV) myocardial deformation and contractile reserve (CR) in top-level power athletes (PA) at rest and during exercise and their possible correlations with functional capacity.

Methods: Standard echo, lung ultrasound, and LV 2D speckle-tracking strain were performed at rest and during exercise in PA and in age- and sex-comparable healthy controls.

Results: 250 PA (male: 62%; 33.6 ± 4.8 years) and 180 age- and sex-comparable healthy controls were enrolled. LV ejection fraction (EF) at baseline was comparable between the two groups, while LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) was reduced in PA (GLS: -17.8 ± 2.4 in PA vs. -21.9 ± 3.8 in controls; P < 0.01). Conversely, myocardial work efficiency (MWE) did not show significant difference between the two groups (94.4 ± 3.2 in PA vs. 95.9 ± 4.6% in controls; P NS). At peak exertion during exercise stress echocardiography (ESE), PA showed better exercise capacity and peak VO2 consumption (51.6 ± 10.2 in EA vs. 39.8 ± 8.2 mL/Kg/min in controls, P < 0.0001), associated with augmented pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP). By multivariable analysis, MWE at rest was the most predictive factor of maximal watts (P < 0.0001), peak VO2, (P < 0.0001), PASP (P < 0.001), and number of B-lines (P < 0.001), all measured at peak effort.

Conclusions: In power athletes, MWE showed less load dependency than GLS. Normal resting values of MWE in PA suggest a physiological LV remodeling, associated with a better exercise capacity and preserved CR during physical stress.

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum (LHIS) is a histologically benign cardiac lesion that is defined by excessive fat accumulation in the area of the interatrial septum (IAS) that does not include the fossa ovalis. Another unusual illness is lipomatosis, which is defined as a broad overgrowth of mature adipose tissue that involves a large portion of an extremity or trunk. We describe a rare case with significant LHIS accompanied by subcutaneous lipomatosis. Echocardiography revealed a mass in the right atrium in this patient. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that this mass was composed of the adipose tissue and was an extension of a huge thickened IAS. Furthermore, this significant hypertrophy of the IAS was in direct continuation with the excessive mediastinal and epicardial fat.