The rapid technological developments of the past decade and the changes in echocardiographic practice brought about by these developments have resulted in the need for updated recommendations to the ...previously published guidelines for cardiac chamber quantification, which was the goal of the joint writing group assembled by the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. This document provides updated normal values for all four cardiac chambers, including three-dimensional echocardiography and myocardial deformation, when possible, on the basis of considerably larger numbers of normal subjects, compiled from multiple databases. In addition, this document attempts to eliminate several minor discrepancies that existed between previously published guidelines.
The rapid technological developments of the past decade and the changes in echocardiographic practice brought about by these developments have resulted in the need for updated recommendations to the ...previously published guidelines for cardiac chamber quantification, which was the goal of the joint writing group assembled by the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. This document provides updated normal values for all four cardiac chambers, including three-dimensional echocardiography and myocardial deformation, when possible, on the basis of considerably larger numbers of normal subjects, compiled from multiple databases. In addition, this document attempts to eliminate several minor discrepancies that existed between previously published guidelines.
The use of ultrasound has developed over the last 50 years into an indispensable first-line test for the cardiac evaluation of symptomatic patients. The technologic miniaturization and improvement in ...transducer technology, as well as the implementation of educational curriculum changes in residency training programs and specialty practice, have facilitated the integration of focused cardiac ultrasound into practice by specialties such as emergency medicine. In the emergency department, focused cardiac ultrasound has become a fundamental tool to expedite the diagnostic evaluation of the patient at the bedside and to initiate emergent treatment and triage decisions by the emergency physician.
Focused Cardiac Ultrasonography Spencer, Kirk T.; Flachskampf, Frank A.
JACC. Cardiovascular imaging,
07/2019, Volume:
12, Issue:
7
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Focused cardiac ultrasonography (FCU) is the use of ultrasonography as an adjunct to physical examination at the point of care. There are ample data supporting the fact that noncardiology trained ...users using small ultrasonography devices can assess left ventricular (LV) enlargement, LV systolic dysfunction, right ventricular (RV) enlargement, left atrial (LA) enlargement, LV hypertrophy, pericardial effusion, and right atrial (RA) pressure elevation more accurately than performing a physical examination. In addition, FCU-trained providers may have skills to perform ultrasonography imaging of body systems outside the heart to supplement their cardiac evaluation. FCU training, including didactic education, proctored imaging, independent imaging, and image interpretation, has been established by several specialties and medical schools. Cardiologists should embrace FCU in their facilities, as the clinical value to patient care is clear. Cardiologists have the responsibility to maintain excellence in the practice of echocardiography while enabling the use of ultrasonography by other medical professionals to augment their clinical assessments conventionally based on physical examination alone.
•FCU is an adjunct of the physical examination performed and interpreted at the point-of-care or bedside which demonstrably improves patient care, especially in acute circumstances.•FCU differs from echocardiography in being shorter and more focused on the presence or absence of a limited number of critical diagnoses which have immediate clinical consequences; it does not require full formal echocardiography or cardiology training but does require some dedicated and structured training.•Training pathways and their quality assurance, the range of its users, medicolegal and economic aspects, the role of focused cardiac ultrasonography with regard to standard echocardiography, the documentation and reporting of focused ultrasonography studies, and finally the potential technological advances such as artificial intelligence will need to be explored in the future.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Estimation of right atrial pressure (RAP) using echocardiographic measurement of the inferior vena caval (IVC) size along with its respirophasic variation is commonly performed despite the paucity of ...data that critically evaluates this technique. In this study, we systematically evaluated echocardiographic imaging of the IVC for estimation of RAP in 102 patients undergoing right heart catheterization. This study established cut-off values using receiver operating characteristic analysis for 8 different IVC parameters and then prospectively tested these parameters for their ability to predict an elevated RAP. The IVC size cutoff with optimum predictive use for RAP above or below 10 mm Hg was 2.0 cm (sensitivity 73% and specificity 85%) and the optimal IVC collapsibility cutoff was 40% (sensitivity 73% and specificity 84%). Traditional classification of RAP into 5-mm Hg ranges based on IVC size and collapsibility performed poorly (43% accurate) and a new classification scheme is proposed.
The rapid detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) is an important step in the clinical management of patients admitted with acute decompensated heart failure, because it allows the ...initiation of treatment specific to LVSD and avoidance of contraindicated therapies. The aim of this study was to determine whether internal medicine residents with limited ultrasound training could use hand-carried ultrasound (HCU) to identify LVSD.
Fifty patients admitted with acute decompensated heart failure were imaged from the parasternal window at the bedside with an HCU device by residents blinded to all clinical data, who had undergone limited cardiac ultrasound training (20 practice studies). Ejection fraction (EF) on HCU was graded as >40% or <40%. HCU EF and a number of physical exam findings and electrocardiographic and laboratory variables were compared for their ability to predict to formal echocardiographic left ventricular EF.
The average formal EF was 32 ± 16% (range, 7%-70%), with 66% of patients having EFs < 40%. The residents' ability to detect an EF < 40% with HCU was excellent (sensitivity, 94%; specificity, 94%; negative predictive value, 88%; positive predictive value, 97%). Binary logistic regression demonstrated that HCU EF was the most powerful predictor of EF < 40%, with minimal additional value from clinical, exam, lab, and electrocardiographic variables. The time interval between clinical assessment and availability of formal echocardiographic results was 22 ± 17 hours.
Residents with limited training in cardiac ultrasound were able to identify LVSD in patients with acute decompensated heart failure with superior accuracy compared with clinical, physical exam, lab, and electrocardiographic findings and an average of 22 hours before the results of formal echocardiography were available.
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is being increasingly used to help identify patients with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS). Whereas ventricular arrhythmias have been well studied in this ...population, atrial arrhythmias have not been thoroughly investigated. We sought to better characterize the arrhythmia burden of a cohort of patients diagnosed with CS by CMR imaging. Patients with biopsy-proven extracardiac sarcoidosis were referred to the University of Chicago for evaluation of the presence of CS. CMR imaging was used to categorize the patients into 2 groups; those with and those without late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) for comparison of arrhythmic events. Arrhythmic evaluation included Holter monitor, event recorder, electrophysiology testing, or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) interrogation; 192 consecutive patients were evaluated with CMR imaging, 57 of whom did not have ambulatory monitoring results and thus were excluded. LGE was present in 44 patients. Atrial arrhythmias were documented in 16 patients (36%) with myocardial LGE and in 11 patients (12%) without myocardial LGE (p = 0.002). Ventricular arrhythmias were documented in 27% of patients with myocardial LGE and 2.2% of LGE-negative patients (p = 0.00076). Of 26 LGE-positive patients with ICDs, 8 (30.8%) received therapies, 3 (11.5%) of which were inappropriate for atrial arrhythmias. In conclusion, atrial arrhythmias were documented more frequently than ventricular arrhythmias in patients with sarcoidosis with cardiac involvement and were 3 times more prevalent than in patients with sarcoidosis without cardiac involvement. Risk-benefit assessment of anticoagulation for primary prevention of stroke should be performed for patients with CS. In patients receiving implantable defibrillators, programing to minimize inappropriate ICD shocks for atrial arrhythmias must be considered.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
This study hypothesized that left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) derived from 3-dimensional echocardiographic (3DE) images would better predict mortality ...than those obtained by 2-dimensional echocardiographic (2DE) measurements, and that 3DE-based LV shape analysis may have added prognostic value.
Previous studies have shown that both LVEF and GLS derived from 2DE images predict mortality. Recently, 3DE measurements of these parameters were found to be more accurate and reproducible because of independence of imaging plane and geometric assumptions. Also, 3DE analysis offers an opportunity to accurately quantify LV shape.
We retrospectively studied 416 inpatients (60 ± 18 years of age) referred for transthoracic echocardiography between 2006 and 2010, in whom good-quality 2DE and 3DE images were available. Mortality data through 2016 were collected. Both 2DE and 3DE images were analyzed to measure LVEF and GLS. Additionally, 3DE-derived LV endocardial surface information was analyzed to obtain global shape indices (sphericity and conicity) and regional curvature (anterior, septal, inferior, lateral walls). Cardiovascular (CV) mortality risks related to these indices were determined using Cox regression.
Of the 416 patients, 208 (50%) died, including 114 (27%) CV-related deaths over a mean follow-up period of 5 ± 3 years. Cox regression revealed that age and body surface area, all 4 LV function indices (2D EF, 3D EF, 2D GLS, 3D GLS), and regional shape indices (septal and inferior wall curvatures) were independently associated with increased risk of CV mortality. GLS was the strongest prognosticator of CV mortality, superior to EF for both 2DE and 3DE analyses, and 2D EF was the weakest among the 4 functional indices. A 1% decrease in GLS magnitude was associated with an 11.3% increase in CV mortality risk.
GLS predicts mortality better than EF by both 3DE and 2DE analysis, whereas 3D EF is a better predictor than 2D EF. Also, LV shape indices provide additional risk assessment.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract Background Stress-induced cardiomyopathy (SCM) is characterized by transient apical wall motion abnormalities of the left ventricle (LV) in the absence of obstructive coronary artery ...disease. Although the echocardiographic findings of SCM mimic those of left anterior descending coronary artery ischemia or infarction (LAD), the regional LV wall motion pattern and degree of RV involvement may differ. Methods We sought to systematically assess regional LV and RV function with myocardial strain imaging to assess if ventricular involvement may differ between SCM and LAD. Results This was a retrospective cohort study, with 3 groups: patients with SCM (n = 55), patients with LAD (n = 36) and 37 normal subjects. All the patients had a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiographic examination, including assessment of longitudinal strain (LS). Global LV longitudinal strain was markedly decreased in both the SCM and LAD groups. However, SCM patients differed by more severe involvement the mid-inferolateral, mid-inferior, apical-lateral and apical-inferior segments. When compared to the LAD patients, SCM patients had significantly more RV involvement both visually and quantitatively (27-42% versus 0-25%). Predictors of SCM included visually reduced RV systolic function, abnormal TAPSE, RVS’ and RV LS in the apical segment. Of the LV variables, regional LS in the mid-inferior and apical-inferior segments could differentiate the groups. Conclusions Our results suggest that RV involvement and the pattern of LV regional LS abnormalities may help differentiate SCM from LAD disease during echocardiographic imaging.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
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