0000000000121639
AUTHOR
Thomas C. Gerber
Coronary Artery Shape and Flow Changes Induced by Myocardial Bridging.
Changes in coronary shape and blood flow induced by myocardial bridging were analyzed in a 56-year-old patient with symptoms of unstable angina after the exclusion of other heart disease. Coronary angiography demonstrated a 1.8-cm long myocardial bridge in the middle part of the left anterior descending coronary artery. In systole, an eccentric compression of the artery occurred, resulting in a stenosis that occupied 86% of the diameter and 96% of the area. Intraluminal ultrasound was performed with a 20-MHz transducer in a 4.8-Fr catheter sheath (Boston Scientific Corp.) connected to an ultrasound console (Diasonics Inc.). A side saddle catheter was introduced into the left anterior descen…
Non-invasive determination of cardiac output by transesophageal Doppler ultrasound-clinical application and validation
The authors describe the development and validation of a device using transesophageal (TE) Doppler ultrasound to provide continuous and noninvasive monitoring of cardiac output (CO) and related parameters. In intubated and artificially ventilated patients who underwent pulmonary artery catherization for hemodynamic monitoring, CO was determined by the esophageal Doppler ultrasound probe and compared to the results obtained simultaneously by means of thermodilution. A very close correlation was found between the results (r=0.99), with a standard estimate of error less than 5% as well as good reproducibility (r=0.96 and r=0.98). >
Intravascular ultrasound imaging of arterial wall architecture.
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a promising new technique for assessing vascular morphology and structure. Controversy exists whether the three-layer appearance of the arterial wall correctly reflects the histologic structures of the intima, media, and adventitia. We performed an experimental study to clarify the three-layer appearance. The vessel wall architecture was analyzed by IVUS on eight different kinds of plastic cylinders, 24 normal blood vessels from pigs, and 59 human arterial segments. A distinct three-layer appearance was observed on all the plastic cylinders when the ultrasound beam was perpendicular to the wall. A three-layer appearance was also seen in the arterial wall, …