The year in echocardiography

Predictors of Long-Term Mortality in Patients With Ischemic Stroke Referred for Transesophageal Echocardiography

“…13 Although the primary implications of this study are for primary prevention of ischemic neurological events, it has prompted suggestions for a reassessment of the prognostic implications of aortic atherosclerosis on TEE. 14 In ischemic stroke patients, CAA has been shown to be a predictor of recurrent embolic events and combined cardiovascular end points, 9,[15][16][17][18][19] although the adjustment for patient risk factors in these analyses has been limited. Previous studies reporting an increased mortality risk associated with CAA have not adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities that would be expected to impact survival.…”

Speckle‐tracking analysis based on 2D echocardiography does not reliably measure left ventricular torsion

“…Due to these technical difficulties, no standardization has been proposed by a recent consensus statement published by international societies of echocardiography (Mor-Avi et al, 2011). In our work, we used the method indicated in the majority of articles published in this field (Notomi et al, 2005;Weyman, 2007;van Dalen et al, 2008), and we obtained average values within the range found in similar populations, albeit inherently variable (Notomi et al, 2006;Takahashi et al, 2010). Thus, we investigated if the degree of apicalization of LV apical section used for twist analysis influences twist magnitude.…”

Emerging diagnostic and therapeutic molecular imaging applications in vascular disease

“…32 Even if all reported events are attributed to the use of UCAs, the risk of death would be significantly low (1:500,000) and no greater than performing an echocardiogram without contrast enhancement. 34 The use of UCAs beyond clinical echocardiography is not yet approved by the FDA. However, the extensive safety background information collected from human translational research studies evaluating microvascular flow in non-cardiac organ systems 30,35,36 and thousands of contrastenhanced echocardiograms performed daily in the United States suggest regulatory approval to use UCAs in other vascular conditions is feasible in the near future once disease-specific and more robust safety information is collected.…”