In recent decades, novel echocardiographic measures have constantly emerged. It is still unclear which echocardiographic measures have the most significant prognostic value in the general population. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to compare the prognostic value of a large panel of echocardiographic measures to identify the most promising measures. […]

Significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is associated with higher risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Left-sided heart disease (LHD) is a potentially important confounder of this association because it is strongly linked to both TR and clinical outcome. […]

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a frequent consequence of mitral valve prolapse (MVP). However, the echocardiographic grading of MR is challenging, and the recommended grading parameters have several limitations. The authors developed a novel echocardiographic parameter to grade MR, the average pixel intensity (API) method, on the basis of pixel intensity analysis of the continuous-wave Doppler […]

Transcatheter closure is the first-choice treatment strategy in most cases of secundum-type atrial septal defect (ASD). Recently, it was recognized that a prominent Eustachian valve (EV) can be a risk in ASD and patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure. Incorrect identification of prominent EV as the inferior rim of ASD during surgical and transcatheter closure can cause serious complications.1 The […]

In 2016, an update of the 2009 recommendations for the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function (DF) was released by the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. The aims of this study were to assess the concordance between the 2016 and 2009 recommendations and to test the impact of the consideration of “myocardial disease” […]

We read with interest the study by Volpato et al.1 comparing two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D) tricuspid annulus (TA) measurements by both transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography. The authors found there were no differences in 3D TA dimensions between TTE and transesophageal echocardiography approaches. This noninferiority and the less invasive […]

Dystrophin-deficient cardiomyopathy is becoming the dominant cause of death in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), but its developmental process remains elusive. This study aimed to assess the development of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction that mimics DMD pathologies in golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD) dogs. […]

Establishing normal values and associated variations of three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography– (3DSTE-) derived left ventricular (LV) strain is necessary for accurate interpretation and comparison of measurements. We aimed to perform a meta-analysis of normal ranges of LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global radial strain (GRS), and global […]

Both the American Society of Echocardiography and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists consider transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) a relative contraindication in patients with histories of bariatric surgery, and survey data indicate that many physicians who routinely use TEE in their practice consider bariatric surgery to be an absolute contraindication or are not certain.1,2 There […]

It remains difficult to assess cardiovascular risk in symptomatic women. The development of femoral plaque precedes adverse cardiovascular events. However, associations of femoral plaque burden with coronary artery disease (CAD) severity and extent are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine sex-specific plaque quantification markers by vascular ultrasound for identifying significant, […]

With the increasing frequency of catheter-based interventions in congenital heart disease and structural heart disease, the use of fusion imaging has become a major enhancement for understanding complex anatomy and facilitating key steps in interventional procedures. Because transesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy are displayed in different visual perspectives, the interventional […]

The use of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography may be challenging in patients suspected of having prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) provides a new diagnostic tool in the examination of patients with PVE, yet few data on its use have been published. […]