Report from the Annual Conference of the British Society of Echocardiography, November 2017, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh

To evaluate the relation between left ventricular (LV) twist mechanics and left atrial (LA) phasic function in patients with systemic hypertension using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). We Impaired shortening-deactivation of cardiac myocytes could sustain myocardial contraction, preserving ejection fraction at the expense of diastolic dysfunction. To examine whether an impairment of early systolic ejection is associated with sustained myocardial contraction and diastolic dysfunction. The relation between first-phase ejection fraction the fraction of left ventricular volume ejected from the start of systole to the time of the first peak in LV pressure (corresponding to the Our study demonstrates a clear association between NT-proBNP level and LVFP. This becomes more robust as the level increases >900 ng/L. Left atrial volume appears to correlate with NT-proBNP and is of value in routine assessment of patients with breathlessness. Few patients with raised LVFP had NT-proBNP levels <450 ng/L. There remains debate surrounding the optimal cut-off value. Stress echocardiography (SE) is a widely used diagnostic tool for ischaemic heart disease. However, this type of functional testing has inherent risks and there is limited contemporary data on complication rates. We therefore carried out an audit of complications in a high-volume UK stress echo laboratory. This was a retrospective audit of all SEs carried out in our center over 8 years between 2009 and 2017. Both dobutamine SE (DSE) and exercise SE (ESE) were included. The DSE protocol used a maximum dose of 30 μg/kg/min of dobutamine with atropine and handgrip augmentation as required. For ESEs the Bruce protocol was used on the treadmill and the WHO25 protocol on the semi-supine bicycle. Trans-pulmonary contrast was used in 95% of patients having DSE and 70% of patients having ESE. All complications were recorded even if no therapeutic intervention was required by the operator other than termination of the test. Locally, a results and a predominantly in the We investigated the whether stress echocardiography (SE) is safe and has satisfactory detection rate of ischaemia. retrospective of a total of 426 who had SE within a period of 12 months 2015 to 2016) for assessment of ischaemia. All were followed up for a mean period of 20 months. Collected mode of stressors, complications, management of the positive SE results and readmission of patients with chest pain management procedure pulmonary Currently, echocardiographic data regarding anatomical and functional remodelling of the right ventricle (RV) post-PEA, and whether pre-surgical haemodynamics influence recovery. Left atrium (LA) enlargement is an important predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. LA size is estimated by 2D echocardiography using several methods. We assessed if discrepancies between methods occurred more commonly in different types of heart disease. A secondary aim was to audit local adherence to BSE guidelines. 218 compared: