Multiplane transesophageal echocardiography is a practical and accurate clinical tool for the assessment of the severity of aortic stenosis.

No abstract

Survival of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus has increased with corticosteroid therapy. However, adverse effects of corticosteroid therapy on cardiovascular structures, such as scarring and shrinking of affected valves, are not well known. We report the case of a 19-year-old patient who developed severe mitral insufficiency within a few weeks after high-dosage corticosteroid therapy had been instituted for an acute relapse of systemic lupus erythematosus. The rapid development of severe mitral regurgitation was documented by sequential colour Doppler echocardiography.

No abstract

We were able to analyse the components of the overall error of a typical patient positioning system. We consider this to be a contribution to the optimization of the positioning accuracy for computer guidance systems.