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Article
Detection of myocardial fibrosis by speckle-tracking echocardiography: from prediction to clinical applications
Myocardial fibrosis (MF) represents the underlying pathologic condition of many cardiac disease, leading to cardiac dysfunction and heart failure (HF). Biopsy studies have shown the presence of MF in patients ...
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Article
Speckle tracking echocardiography in heart failure development and progression in patients with apneas
Obstructive (OA) and central apneas (CA) are highly prevalent breathing disorders that have a negative impact on cardiac structure and function; while OA promote the development of progressive cardiac alterati...
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Article
Open AccessSpeckle tracking echocardiography in primary mitral regurgitation: should we reconsider the time for intervention?
Thanks to the improvement in mitral regurgitation (MR) diagnostic and therapeutic management, with the introduction of minimally invasive techniques which have considerably reduced the individual surgical risk...
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Article
Echocardiography for left ventricular assist device implantation and evaluation: an indispensable tool
Echocardiography is an indispensable tool in the evaluation, placement, management and follow-up of patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD). While transoesophageal echocardiography is the ideal to...
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Article
The prognostic role of speckle tracking echocardiography in clinical practice: evidence and reference values from the literature
Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a second-level echocardiographic technique which has gradually gained relevance in the last years. It allows semi-automatic quantification of myocardial deformation a...
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Article
Survival in acute heart failure in intensive cardiac care unit: a prospective study
The aim of this study is to identify the best predictors of mortality among clinical, biochemical and advanced echocardiographic parameters in acute heart failure (AHF) patients admitted to coronary care unit ...
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Article
Open AccessCor pulmonale: the role of traditional and advanced echocardiography in the acute and chronic settings
Cor pulmonale is the condition in which the right ventricle undergoes morphological and/or functional changes due to diseases that affect the lungs, the pulmonary circulation, or the breathing process. Dependi...
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Article
Basic and advanced echocardiography in advanced heart failure: an overview
Advanced chronic heart failure (ACHF) is the last phase in the evolution of heart failure and is characterized by high hospitalization and mortality rates and is refractory to medical therapy, therefore requir...
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Article
Syncope in the Young Adult and in the Athlete: Causes and Clinical Work-up to Exclude a Life-Threatening Cardiac Disease
Syncope is defined as a transient loss of consciousness due to cerebral hypoperfusion, characterized by a rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous complete recovery. It is usually a benign event, but somet...
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Article
Left atrial strain in left ventricular diastolic dysfunction: have we finally found the missing piece of the puzzle?
The noninvasive estimation of diastolic function with echocardiography as a surrogate of left ventricular filling pressure is considered an essential step in the clinical evaluation of patients with conditions...
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Article
Prognostic value of left atrial strain in patients with moderate asymptomatic mitral regurgitation
For patients with asymptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR), the criteria identifying the groups at higher-risk and their clinical outcome are still uncertain. Therefore, in these patients, optimal time of surger...
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Article
Speckle tracking echocardiography in cardiac amyloidosis
Speckle tracking echocardiography is an imaging method, based on analysis of 2D echocardiographic images, that is useful in providing information on tissue deformation in different cardiac diseases. Cardiac am...
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Article
The left atrium and the right ventricle: two supporting chambers to the failing left ventricle
Heart failure (HF) is mainly caused by left ventricular (LV) impairment of function, hence detailed assessment of its structure and function is a clinical priority. The frequent involvement of the left atrium ...
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Article
Right ventricular function after cardiac surgery: the diagnostic and prognostic role of echocardiography
Cardiac surgical techniques and circulatory supports have strongly evolved in the last years. Right ventricular (RV) function during the post-operatory period is still subject of study, although its relevant p...
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Article
Left atrial, ventricular and atrio-ventricular strain in patients with subclinical heart dysfunction
Arterial hypertension (AH) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are the most common causes of heart deterioration because of their high prevalence in the population. The aim of this study was to evaluate peak left atria...
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Article
Reference values of left atrial size and function according to age: should we redefine the normal upper limits?
Different cut-offs have been proposed for left atrial (LA) size. Furthermore, conflicting results have been reported about the influence of age on LA size and data on the impact of age on LA myocardial functio...
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Article
Left heart longitudinal deformation analysis in mitral regurgitation
In mitral regurgitation (MR), left atrium (LA) and left ventricle (LV) undergo remodeling even if the patient is asymptomatic. The aim of our study was to identify the best echo index that correlates with MR s...
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Article
Left atrium: the last bulwark before overt heart failure
Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has emerged as an important public health issue in recent years. It represents the most common type of HF in ambulatory setting, and it has been reco...
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Article
Two-dimensional and three-dimensional left ventricular deformation analysis: a study in competitive athletes
Two-dimensional (2D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) has clarified functional adaptations accompanying the morphological features of ‘athlete’s heart’. However, 2D STE has some limitations, potentially...
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Article
Left atrial strain after maximal exercise in competitive waterpolo players
Left atrial (LA) function is a determinant of left ventricular (LV) filling. It carries out three main functions: reservoir, conduit, contractile. Aim of this study was to evaluate the role of LA and its defor...
