Feasibility and clinical utility of real-time tele-echocardiography using personal mobile device-based pocket echocardiograph.

Introduction: Recently introduced microUSB ultrasound probe, which can be connected to personal mobile device constitutes a new class of diagnostic pocket size imaging devices (PSID).The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and clinical utility of real-time tele-echocardiography with the use such device. Material and methods: The study group comprised 30 patients (18 men and 12 women; mean age: 54 ±14 years; mean body mass index: 27 ±6 kg/m2), admitted to various hospital departments (infectious diseases, internal medicine and cardiology). All patients underwent focused echocardiographic examination performed by an inexperienced operator using PSID and collaborating remotely in real-time with cardiologist by means of tele-consultation. Before commencing the examination, the operators underwent 1 h training in use of the PSID. Results: In most of patients PSID imaging provided sufficient diagnostic image quality. The dimensions of left ventricle, left atrium and the aorta obtained during the this examination showed good correlation with standard echocardiography (r = 0.89, r = 0.82, r = 0.92 respectively), but the correlation for TAPSE measurements was less pronounced (r = 0.52). The agreement in detection of pathologies (wall motion abnormalities, morphological and functional valvular abnormalities) between the tele-echocardiography and standard echocardiographic examination was good to very good (κ ranged from 0.648 to 0.823). Conclusions: Pocket size imaging devices allows an inexperienced operator to perform a focused echocardiographic examination under a remote supervision of an experienced cardiologist. The introduction of new technology in the form of PSID with tele-echocardiography feature can revolutionize access to this imaging technique.

Continuous hands-free monitoring of echocardiographic exercise test using probe fixation device.

BACKGROUND: Stress echocardiography has been widely used in clinical practice for decades and has recently gained even more importance in diagnostic approaches to ischemic heart disease. However, it still has numerous limitations. Despite advantages of physical exercise as most physiologic stressor, it is impossible to continuously monitor the cardiac function during treadmill test and difficult to maintain an optimal acoustic window during cycle ergometer exercise tests. The aim herein, is to assess the feasibility of probe fixation for use during exercise echocardiography. METHODS: Forty-eight subjects (47 men, mean age 42 ± 17 years, 25 healthy volunteers, 23 patients with suspected coronary artery disease) were included in this study. All subjects underwent exercise stress test on treadmill (32 cases) or cycle ergometer (16 cases). Both sector and matrix probes were used (in 17 and 31 tests, respectively). The semi-quantitative quality of acquired apical views were assessed at each stage using a four-point grading system. RESULTS: The mean time required for probe fixation was 9 ± 2 min. At baseline, 10 patients had at least one apical window of quality precluding reliable analysis. Twenty-five patients required probe repositioning during exercise (more often on a treadmill). During peak exercise quality of images in all views declined, but for diagnostic purposes it remained sufficient in 29 patients. Thus, 76% of performed tests (60% study population) had sufficient image quality. CONCLUSIONS: Probe fixation offers the possibility of continuous acquisition of echocardiographic images during physical exercise. The device is suitable almost exclusively for male patients and in some patients requires repositioning.

Feasibility and value of two-dimensional volumetric stress echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: Stroke volume response during stress is a major determinant of functional status in heart failure and can be measured by two-dimensional (2-D) volumetric stress echocardiography (SE). The present study hypothesis is that SE may identify mechanisms underlying the change in stroke volume by measuring preload reserve through end-diastolic volume (EDV) and left ventricular contractile reserve (LVCR) with systolic blood pressure and end-systolic volume (ESV). METHODS: We enrolled 4735 patients (age 63.6±11.3 years, 2800 male) referred to SE for known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) and/or heart failure (HF) in 21 SE laboratories in 8 countries. In addition to regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA), force was measured at rest and peak stress as the ratio of systolic blood pressure by cuff sphygmomanometer/ESV by 2D with Simpson's or linear method. Abnormal values of LVCR (peak/rest) based on force were ≤1.10 for dipyridamole (N.=1992 patients) and adenosine (N.=18); ≤2.0 for exercise (N.=2087) or dobutamine (N.=638). RESULTS: Force-based LVCR was obtained in all 4735 patients. Lack of stroke volume increase during stress was due to either abnormal LVCR and/or blunted preload reserve, and 57% of patients with abnormal LVCR nevertheless showed increase in stroke volume. CONCLUSIONS: Volumetric SE is highly feasible with all stresses, and more frequently impaired in presence of ischemic RWMA, absence of viability and reduced coronary flow velocity reserve. It identifies an altered stroke volume response due to reduced preload and/or contractile reserve.

Complexity of changes in right ventricular morphology and function in patients undergoing cardiac surgery - 3D echocardiographic study.

BACKGROUND: An impairment of standard echocardiographic parameters of right ventricular (RV) function is a known phenomenon in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, but its significance remains unclear. AIMS: This study aimed to assess changes in RV function in patients undergoing cardiac surgery using speckle tracking and 3D echocardiography. METHODS: The study population comprised 122 patients referred for cardiac surgery. Transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) examinations were performed: before the surgery (TTE1), 1 week after surgery (TTE2), and 1 year after surgery (TTE 3). Parameters measured during these examinations included both standard and advanced indices of the RV size and function, as well as a new parameter introduced by our team - RV shortening fraction (RV SF). RESULTS: TTE1 was performed on average (standard deviation [SD]) 24 (15) hours before surgery, whereas TTE2 and TTE3 were performed on average 7.2 (3) days and 346 (75) days after the surgery, respectively. A postoperative impairment of parameters of RV longitudinal function was observed (P <0.001). However, neither the RV size assessed by both 2D and 3D techniques changed, nor the global RV function measured with the use of fractional area change and ejection fraction. Additionally, during the postoperative period, an increase in the value of an RV SF by 12.9% was observed. After 12 months we observed an improvement in the parameters of the longitudinal RV function. CONCLUSIONS: Uncomplicated cardiac surgery causes transient impairment of the longitudinal systolic RV function, with no influence on the global RV function. The preservation of global function results from increased RV SF. After 12 months, an improvement of the longitudinal function can be observed.

Artificial Intelligence-Powered Measurement of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Using a Handheld Ultrasound Device.

The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of an algorithm for automated measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) available on handheld ultrasound devices (HUDs). One hundred twelve patients admitted to the cardiology department underwent assessment performed with an HUD. In each case, the four-chamber apical view was obtained, and LVEF was calculated with LVivo software. Subsequently, during the examination performed with the use of the stationary echocardiograph, the 3-D measurement of LVEF was recorded. The average LVEFs measured with LVivo and the 3-D reference method were 46 ± 14% and 48 ± 14%, respectively. The correlation between the measurements obtained with the HUD and 3-D evaluation was high (r = 0.92, 95% confidence interval: 0.87-0.95, p < 0.0001). The mean difference between the LVEF obtained with LVivo and the 3-D LVEF was not significant (mean difference: -0.61%, 95% confidence interval: -1.89 to 0.68, p = 0.31). The LVivo software despite its limitations is capable of the accurate LVEF measurement when the acquired views are of at least good imaging quality.

Diagnostic utility of two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography to identify ischemic etiology of left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: The differentiation between dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and systolic dysfunction caused by coronary artery disease (CAD) based on clinical and echocardiographic presentation can be difficult in some cases. AIM: Our study aimed to define differences in myocardial function between patients with ischemic and nonischemic etiology of reduced left ventricular ejection fraction using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 90 patients (mean age 65 ± 11 years, 70% male) with de novo diagnosed reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (≤45% as determined by the transthoracic echocardiography), who were referred for coronary angiography to determine the presence of significant CAD. On the basis of coronary angiography results, patients were divided into two subgroups as follows: 45 subjects with significant CAD (group A) and 45 subjects without CAD (group B). Acquired transthoracic echocardiographic images were assessed off-line using 2DSTE. In each patient, we calculated arithmetic mean, median value, and standard deviation of regional longitudinal strain and strain rate of 18 left ventricular segments. RESULTS: Standard deviation of the regional peak early diastolic strain rate was significantly higher in group A than in group B (P = 0.01). The cutoff value with the highest diagnostic value was >0.37/s-its sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of CAD were 73% and 53%, respectively. The remaining parameters did not differ significantly between the study groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with systolic dysfunction resulting from CAD have significantly more heterogeneous regional longitudinal early diastolic strain rate assessed by 2DSTE than patients with DCM.

Recovery of regional systolic and diastolic myocardial function after acute myocardial infarction evaluated by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

PURPOSE: The assessment of temporal changes in systolic and diastolic regional left ventricle function by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) after successful reperfusion therapy of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: A total of 97 consecutive patients admitted with AMI and treated with successful percutaneous coronary intervention were included in this study. On days 1, 2, 3, 7, 30 and 180 following admission patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography with subsequent measurement of systolic longitudinal strain (SLS), systolic longitudinal strain rate (SRS) and early diastolic longitudinal strain rate (SRe) in left ventricular segments by speckle tracking technique. RESULTS: The largest increase in regional SLS and SRS was observed between day 1 and 2. On days 3, 7, 30 and 180 further improvement was noticeable, but the changes were less significant. The highest prognostic value among STE parameters for predicting systolic function recovery after 6-month-long follow-up was achieved by measuring SLS on day 3 (area under the curve = 0·878). CONCLUSIONS: The most of regional systolic function recovery occurs within the first 2 days. The recovery of regional diastolic function takes longer - the most significant part of improvement occurs within the first 7 days. STE parameters have prognostic value for predicting the improvement of systolic function after 180 days.

Quality control of B-lines analysis in stress Echo 2020.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness trial "Stress echo (SE) 2020" evaluates novel applications of SE in and beyond coronary artery disease. The core protocol also includes 4-site simplified scan of B-lines by lung ultrasound, useful to assess pulmonary congestion. PURPOSE: To provide web-based upstream quality control and harmonization of B-lines reading criteria. METHODS: 60 readers (all previously accredited for regional wall motion, 53 B-lines naive) from 52 centers of 16 countries of SE 2020 network read a set of 20 lung ultrasound video-clips selected by the Pisa lab serving as reference standard, after taking an obligatory web-based learning 2-h module ( http://se2020.altervista.org ). Each test clip was scored for B-lines from 0 (black lung, A-lines, no B-lines) to 10 (white lung, coalescing B-lines). The diagnostic gold standard was the concordant assessment of two experienced readers of the Pisa lab. The answer of the reader was considered correct if concordant with reference standard reading ±1 (for instance, reference standard reading of 5 B-lines; correct answer 4, 5, or 6). The a priori determined pass threshold was 18/20 (≥ 90%) with R value (intra-class correlation coefficient) between reference standard and recruiting center) > 0.90. Inter-observer agreement was assessed with intra-class correlation coefficient statistics. RESULTS: All 60 readers were successfully accredited: 26 (43%) on first, 24 (40%) on second, and 10 (17%) on third attempt. The average diagnostic accuracy of the 60 accredited readers was 95%, with R value of 0.95 compared to reference standard reading. The 53 B-lines naive scored similarly to the 7 B-lines expert on first attempt (90 versus 95%, p = NS). Compared to the step-1 of quality control for regional wall motion abnormalities, the mean reading time per attempt was shorter (17 ± 3 vs 29 ± 12 min, p < .01), the first attempt success rate was higher (43 vs 28%, p < 0.01), and the drop-out of readers smaller (0 vs 28%, p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Web-based learning is highly effective for teaching and harmonizing B-lines reading. Echocardiographers without previous experience with B-lines learn quickly.

Association between left atrial function assessed by speckle-tracking echocardiography and the presence of left atrial appendage thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate whether the deformation of left atrium (LA) measured by speckle-tracking analysis (STE) is associated with the presence of LA appendage thrombus (LAAT) during non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: Eighty-seven patients (mean age 67 years, 59% men) were included to retrospective cross-sectional study. On top of standard echocardiography we assessed: LA longitudinal systolic strain (LS), systolic (LSSR) and early diastolic strain rate (LESR) in four-chamber and twochamber apical views. All patients underwent transesophageal echocardiography disclosing LAAT in 36 (41%) patients. RESULTS: Subgroups with and without thrombi did not differ with regard to clinical characteristics. Univariate factors associated with LAAT were as follows: CH2ADS2-VASc Score, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), LV mass, and STE measurements. In a multivariate model only LVEF (p=0.002), LS (p=0.02), LESR (p=0.008), and LSSR (p=0.045) were independently associated with LAAT presence. Moreover, LVEF and LA STE measurements provided incremental value over the CH2ADS2-VASc Score. CONCLUSION: Speckle-tracking TTE may be used to describe LA reservoir and conduit function during AF, allowing the identification of patients with higher risk of LAAT and providing incremental value over the CH2ADS2-VASc Score.

Feasibility and clinical benefit of cognitive-behavioral intervention for preparing patients for transesophageal echocardiography.

OBJECTIVE: Despite premedication, anxiety in patients undergoing transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is prevalent, often causing adverse physiological and psychological effects and contributing to decreased patient compliance. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of cognitive-behavioral intervention (CBI) in patients undergoing TEE and to assess its impact on the severity of anxiety, patient's and physician's comfort, and administered dose of sedatives. METHODS: Our study was designed as a prospective, single-center, single-blinded, case-controlled pilot study. The study group comprised 49 patients (26 men, 66±8 years old) referred for TEE. Before the examination, 26 randomly selected patients underwent CBI. Sedatives were administered, if necessary. After the examination, patient anxiety and patient's and physician's comfort were evaluated using dedicated questionnaires and scores. Intergroup comparison was performed using Student's t-test for independent variables and Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson's chi-square test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. RESULTS: The mean level of pre-TEE distress and anxiety were significantly lower in patients receiving CBI than in those without intervention (p=0.022). Furthermore, the application of CBI significantly reduced patient's discomfort (p<0.001) and resulted in increased comfort of physician (p<0.001) during TEE. The need of sedative administration (31% vs. 91%, p<0.001) and its mean dose was significantly lower in patients receiving CBI (1.6±0.5 mg vs. 2.7±1.6 mg midazolam, p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: CBI is feasible in patients undergoing TEE. It decreases patient's anxiety and discomfort and increases physician's comfort. It also results in reduced use of sedatives during the examination.

Fusion of morphological data obtained by coronary computed tomography angiography with quantitative echocardiographic data on regional myocardial function.

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional (3D) fusion of morphological data obtained by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) with functional data from resting and stress echocardiography could potentially provide additional information compared to examination results analyzed separately and increase the diagnostic and prognostic value of non-invasive imaging in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Using vendor-independent software developed in our institution, we aimed to assess the feasibility and reproducibility of 3D fusion of morphological CCTA data with echocardiographic data regarding regional myocardial function. METHODS: Thirty patients with suspected CAD underwent CCTA and resting transthoracic echocardiography. From CCTA we obtained 3D reconstructions of coronary arteries and left ventricle (LV). Offline speckle-tracking analysis of the echocardiographic images provided parametric maps depicting myocardial longitudinal strain in 17 segments of the LV. Using our software, 3 independent investigators fused echocardiographic maps with CCTA reconstruc-tions in all patients. Based on the obtained fused models, each segment of the LV was assigned to one of the major coronary artery branches. RESULTS: Mean time necessary for data fusion was 65 ± 7 s. Complete agreement between independent investigators in assignment of LV segments to coronary branches was obtained in 94% of the segments. The average coefficient of agreement (kappa) between the investigators was 0.950 and the intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.9329 (95% CI 0.9227-0.9420). CONCLUSIONS: Three-dimensional fusion of morphological CCTA data with quantitative echocardiographic data on regional myocardial function is feasible and allows highly repro-ducible assignment of myocardial segments to coronary artery branches.

Association between microRNA-21 concentration and lipid profile in patients with acute coronary syndrome without persistent ST-segment elevation.

INTRODUCTION: MicroRNA (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs involved in the regulation of gene expression. Certain miRNAs, especially miRNA-21 (miR-21), may be involved in lipid metabolism. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between plasma free circulating miR-21 levels and lipid fractions: total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), non-HDL-C, and triglycerides (TG), as well as their atherogenic profile expressed as the ratio of individual lipid fractions (TC:LDL-C, TC:non-HDL-C, TG:HDL-C, and HDL-C:LDL-C) in patients with acute coronary syndromes without persistent ST -segment elevation (NSTE ACS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 34 patients diagnosed with NSTE ACS on admission to the emergency department. Plasma miRNA levels were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction and the ΔΔCt method. Serum lipid fractions were assessed after a minimum of 12-hour fasting during the first day of hospitalization. RESULTS: MiR-21 levels showed a significant inverse correlation with TC (r = -0.5; P = 0.002), LDLC (r = -0.5; P = 0.001), and non-HDL-C (r = -0.6; P <0.001) levels. Moreover, they were inversely correlated with TC:HDL-Cratio (r = -0.6; P <0.001), LDL-C:HDL-Cratio (r = -0.6; P <0.001), TG:HDL-Cratio (r = -0.4; P = 0.037), and TC:non-HDLratio (r = 0.6; P <0.001). In a multivariate analysis, miR-21 levels (ß = -0.41; P = 0.018) and the need for revascularization (ß = 0.35; P = 0.027) were independent predictors of non-HDL-C levels. CONCLUSIONS: Free circulating miR-21 levels inversely correlate with TC, LDL-C, and non-HDL-C and are an independent predictor of non-HDL-C levels in patients with NSTE ACS. Thus, the overexpression of miR-21 is associated with a less atherogenic lipid profile.

[Additional mass on the intracardiac lead - diagnostic doubts and the optimal choice of treatment]. / Dodatkowa masa na elektrodzie wewnatrzsercowej - watpliwosci diagnostyczne i wybór postepowania leczniczego.

We describe a case of a 30 year-old female with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. One and a half year later the patient suffered from endocarditis und undevent surgery. The factor V Leiden mutation was diagnosed. Diagnosis and treatment of device-related interactive complications is discussed.