TDI and myocardial blush: good indicators of myocardial reperfusion

The TDI at follow-up confirms the reliability's value of Blush is predicting anatomical and functional recovery of the myocardium and microcirculation.

Impatto dell'anemia sulla prognosi dei pazienti sottoposti a PCI

Chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity: role of the tissue Doppler in the early diagnosis of left ventricular dysfunction.

Cardiotoxicity is a common complication of chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to assess the cardiotoxicity of anticancer drugs using tissue Doppler imaging. A prospective study was carried out using patients with early breast cancer (72 women, median age: 57 ± 12 year) and other inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were treatment with epirubicin, trastuzumab, fluorouracil, cyclophosphamide, taxotere, and taxolo; left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of more than 50%; and absence of important pathologies. Exclusion criteria were presence of known heart disease, earlier exposure to mediastinal irradiation, and earlier chemotherapy. On the basis of treatment, patients …

Multimodalities imaging in diagnosis of pericardial cyst

Pericardial cysts, an uncommon benign congenital anomaly belonging to the category of mediastinal masses. Cysts are usually detected incidentally on chest radiography or echocardiography, being most patients asymptomatic. In some cases, however, symptoms and complications occur, like dyspnea, chest pain, or persistent cough. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are the imaging techniques of choice to diagnose pericardial cysts. The removal of pericardial cysts is restricted to the cases with an uncertain diagnosis or in the presence of symptoms.

[Cardiovascular risk profile of patients with psoriasis].

The aim of this study was to assess the cardiovascular risk profile of patients with psoriasis compared to patients without psoriasis. A case-control assay was performed using 143 cases (psoriasis patients) and 104 controls (patients without psoriasis). We assessed the presence of hypertension, lipid profile (HDL, triglycerides), diabetes, and body mass index in both cases and controls. Psoriasis patients showed an unfavorable cardiovascular risk profile and a higher risk of cardiovascular events and metabolic syndrome than patients without psoriasis.

Relationship between epicardial fat and diastolic dysfunction in obese subjects: an echocardiographic study