[Isolated left ventricular non-compaction associated with Ebstein's anomaly. Multimodality non-invasive imaging for the assessment of congenital heart disease]. / Miocardiopatía no compactada asociada a anomalía de Ebstein. Importancia de la imagen cardiaca multimodal en las cardiopatías congénitas.

To establish the etiology of heart failure in patients with congenital heart disease can be challenging. Multiple concomitant anomalies that can be missed after an initial diagnosis could be seen in these patients. In patients with congenital heart disease, a more accurate evaluation of cardiac morphology and left ventricular systolic function could be evaluated by recent non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques. We present a rare case where multimodal cardiac imaging was useful to establish the final diagnosis of left ventricular non-compaction associated with Ebstein's anomaly.

3D color-Doppler echocardiography and chronic aortic regurgitation: a novel approach for severity assessment.

BACKGROUND: 3D echocardiography provides a complete evaluation of the aortic valve and adjacent structures and it improves the assessment of this cardiac region. Three-dimensional color-Doppler echocardiography (3DCDE) evaluation might improve the measurements of the functional regurgitant orifice in patients with Chronic Aortic Regurgitation (CAR). OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to compare the accuracy of current echo-Doppler methods and 3DCDE for the assessment of CAR severity. The reference method used in this work was the CAR severity determined by means of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) METHODS: Thirty-two consecutive patients with an established diagnosis of CAR recruited in our institution comprised our study group. CAR severity was determined by conventional Echo-Doppler methods and by 3DCDE and their results were compared with those obtained by means of CMR. RESULTS: Mean age was 63.0 ± 13.5 years. Twenty-two patients (68.8%) were men. Compared with the traditional echo-Doppler methods, 3DCDE evaluation had the best linear association with CMR results (3D vena contracta cross sectional area method: r = 0.88; r square = 0.77; p < 0.001. 3D vena contracta cross sectional area/left ventricular outflow tract cross sectional area method: r = 0.87; r square = 0.75; p < 0.001). The ROC analysis showed an excellent area under curve for detection of severe CAR (3D vena contracta cross sectional area method = 0.97; 3D vena contracta cross sectional area/left ventricular outflow tract cross sectional area method = 0.98). Inter- and intra-observer variability for the 3DCDE evaluation was good (ICC = 0.89 and ICC = 0.91 for inter and intra observer variability respectively). CONCLUSIONS: 3DCDE is an accurate and highly reproducible diagnostic tool for estimating CAR severity. Compared with the traditional echo-Doppler methods, 3DCDE has the best agreement with the CMR determined CAR severity. Thus, 3DCDE is a diagnostic method that may improve the therapeutic management of patients with CAR.

[Assessment of dynamic coronary plaque changes and the clinical consequences in type-II diabetic patients: a serial intracoronary ultrasound study]. / Evaluación de los cambios dinámicos de las placas coronarias y sus consecuencias clínicas en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2: un estudio de ecografía intracoronaria seriada.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: One of the aims of secondary prevention is to achieve plaque stabilization. This study sought to investigate the clinical consequences and predictive factors of the change in the type of plaque (CTP) as assessed by serial intracoronary ultrasound in type II diabetic patients with known coronary artery disease. METHODS: 237 segments (45 patients) from the DIABETES I, II, and III trials were included. Intracoronary ultrasound from motorized pullbacks (0.5mm/s) after index procedure and at 9-month angiographic follow-up was performed in the same coronary segment. Nontreated mild lesions (angiographic stenosis <25%) with ≥0.5mm plaque thickening and ≥5mm of length assessed by intracoronary ultrasound were included. As different types of plaques may be encountered throughout a given coronary lesion, each study lesion was divided into 3 segments for serial quantitative and qualitative analyses. Statistical adjustment by multiple lesion segments per patient (generalized estimating equations method) was performed. A CTP was defined as any qualitative change in plaque type at follow-up. At 1-year follow-up, major adverse cardiac events - death, myocardial infarction and target vessel revascularization) - were recorded. RESULTS: A CTP was observed in 48 lesions (20.2%) and occurred more frequently (52.1%) in mixed plaques. Independent predictors of CTP were glycated hemoglobin levels (odds ratio [OR] 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.5; P=.04); glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitors (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.1-0.7; P=.004) and statin administration (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.1-0.8; P=.02). At 1-year follow-up CTP was associated with an increase in major adverse cardiac events rate (CTP 20.8% vs non-CTP 13.8%, P=.008; hazard ratio=1.9, 95% CI 1.3-1.9, P=.01). CONCLUSIONS: Qualitative changes in mild stenosis documented by intracoronary ultrasound in type II diabetics are associated with suboptimal secondary prevention and may have clinical consequences. Full English text available from: www.revespcardiol.org.

Assessment of myocardial deformation: Predicting medium-term left ventricular dysfunction after surgery in patients with chronic mitral regurgitation.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The development of left ventricular dysfunction after mitral valve replacement is a common problem in patients with chronic severe mitral regurgitation. Assessment of myocardial deformation enables myocardial contractility to be accurately estimated. Our aim was to compare the value of the preoperative strain and strain rate derived by either speckle-tracking echocardiography or tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) for predicting the medium-term decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) following surgery. METHODS: This prospective study involved 38 consecutive patients with chronic severe mitral regurgitation who were scheduled for mitral valve replacement. The longitudinal strain and strain rate in the interventricular septum were measured preoperatively using speckle-tracking echocardiography and TDI. The LVEF was determined preoperatively and postoperatively using 3-dimensional echocardiography. Echocardiographic assessments were performed in the 48 hours prior to surgery and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The patients' mean age was 59.9+/-11.3 years and 10 (29.4%) were male. Both speckle-tracking echocardiography and TDI were found to be predictors of a >10% decrease in LVEF at 6 months. However, the predictive value of speckle-tracking echocardiography was greater than that of TDI. The longitudinal strain at baseline in the interventricular septum as measured by speckle-tracking echocardiography was the most powerful predictor; the area under the curve was 0.85 and the optimal cut-off value was -0.11. CONCLUSIONS: Speckle-tracking echocardiography can be used to predict a decrease in LVEF over the medium term after mitral valve replacement. Moreover, the predictive accuracy of speckle-tracking echocardiography was greater than that of TDI.

Angiographic and 3D intravascular ultrasound assessment of overlapping bare metal stent and three different formulations of drug-eluting stents in patients with diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of overlapping bare-metal stent (BMS) and three different formulations of drug-eluting stent (DES) on intimal hyperplasia (IH) response of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: Forty-nine DM patients treated with overlapping BMS (19 lesions), sirolimus-eluting stent (SES 12 lesions), paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES 8 lesions) or tacrolimus-eluting stent (TES 10 lesions) were studied. Baseline and 9-month follow-up volumetric intravascular vascular ultrasound (IVUS) and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) analysis were performed in the entire stented segment and in the overlapped (OL) and non-overlapped (non-OL) subsegments. Clinical outcomes were evaluated at 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Post-procedure (PO-) QCA measurements were similar in all stent groups, and between OL and non-OL subsegments in each individual type of stents. Percent IH was lower in SES and PES vs. BMS (p < 0.05). Percent IH was significantly greater in OL subsegment compared with non-OL subsegment in BMS (p < 0.05), but not in all type of DES groups. SES showed significantly less %IH compared with PES and TES in OL and non-OL subsegments. Vessel area at the OL remained unchanged from PO to FU in all type of DES and BMS groups. There were no aneurysm formation and no stent thrombosis up to 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Overlapping BMS is associated with enhanced IH response in diabetic patients, whereas overlapping DES, particularly SES and PES, appear effective to inhibit IH without detectable late vascular adverse effects.

[Hand-held echocardiographic devices: what do they add to the initial cardiovascular evaluation?]. / Ecocardiograma portátil: ¿qué añade a la valoración cardiovascular inicial?

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Hand-held echocardiographic devices have recently become available. Our objective was to determine, on the basis of clinical data and basic diagnostic techniques, whether hand-held devices offer additional information useful not provided by the initial cardiovascular diagnosis. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We prospectively studied the presence and severity (absent, mild, significative) of 7 frequent heart diseases (aortic or mitral stenosis-regurgitation, tricuspid regurgitation, and left ventricular systolic dysfunction-hypertrophy) in 36 consecutive patients (50% men; mean age 68 12 years) with 3 different methods: clinical examination and basic complementary exams, hand-held echocardiography with 2D and color Doppler imaging (OptiGo, Philips Medical Systems, The Netherlands) and a standard, last-generation transthoracic echocardiogram (Sonos 550, Philips Medical Systems, The Netherlands). We compared the results obtained with the first two methods, and combined the results of both to compare these findings against the results obtained with standard electrocardiography. Percentage agreement and Somer's D, a measure of association between ordinal variables, were calculated. RESULTS: The hand-held device obtained better results than clinical examination (agreement 87 vs. 65%; D = 0.79 0.04 vs. 0.19 0.53) and identified severe lesions that were classified incorrectly by clinical examination in 39% (14/36) patients. However, in 8 patients (10 evaluations) it misclassified severe lesions. CONCLUSIONS: In experienced hands, a hand-held echocardiographic device offers additional information not obtained from an initial cardiovascular diagnosis for common cardiovascular disorders, but it is no substitute for complete echocardiographic examination.