Subject(s)
Cardiac Surgical Procedures , Fistula , Vascular Fistula , Fistula/diagnostic imaging , Fistula/etiology , Fistula/surgery , Heart Atria/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Tricuspid Valve/diagnostic imaging , Tricuspid Valve/surgery , Vascular Fistula/diagnostic imaging , Vascular Fistula/etiologySubject(s)
Humans , Diagnostic Imaging/methods , Echocardiography/methods , Total Quality Management , Accreditation/methods , Echocardiography, Transesophageal/methods , Echocardiography, Stress/methods , Diagnostic Equipment/standards , Health Occupations/standards , Patients , Expert Testimony/methodsABSTRACT
The role of echocardiography for the evaluation of thrombus formation on indwelling intracardiac catheters is well established. Considerably less well described, however, are the echocardiographic characteristics of the so-called retained fibrin sheath, a sleeve of fibrin that surrounds the catheter at the point at which it enters the vein that commonly remains adherent to the vessel wall after catheter removal. The authors report the transesophageal echocardiographic findings of a retained fibrin sheath following catheter removal in a patient with end-stage renal disease and infective endocarditis of the aortic valve.
Subject(s)
Aortitis/diagnostic imaging , Aortitis/etiology , Cardiac Catheterization/adverse effects , Echocardiography, Transesophageal/methods , Fibrin/adverse effects , Foreign-Body Reaction/diagnostic imaging , Foreign-Body Reaction/etiology , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Renal Dialysis/adverse effectsABSTRACT
Echocardiography is an invaluable procedure for the evaluation of intracardiac masses, and can reliably identify mass location, attachment, shape, size, and mobility, while defining the presence and extent of any consequent hemodynamic derangement. With careful attention to mass location and morphology, and appropriate application of clinical information, echocardiography can usually distinguish between the 3 principal intracardiac masses: tumor, thrombus, and vegetation. Transesophageal imaging frequently adds additional important information to the assessment of mass lesions and should always be considered when image quality is inadequate or pertinent clinical questions remain unanswered with surface imaging. This review will focus on primary and metastatic tumors of the heart.