ABSTRACT
The successful treatment of a symptomatic coronary arteriovenous malformation (CAVM) by a percutaneous embolization technique with micro-particles is described. Objective evidence of ischemia and its subsequent disappearance after embolization is presented. The embolization technique and possible indications and contraindications are discussed.
Subject(s)
Arteriovenous Malformations/therapy , Coronary Vessel Anomalies/therapy , Embolization, Therapeutic , Arteriovenous Malformations/diagnostic imaging , Coronary Angiography , Coronary Vessel Anomalies/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Male , Microspheres , Middle Aged , Polyvinyl AlcoholABSTRACT
The clinical and echocardiographic findings of four patients with right ventricular tumors (three myxomas and one metastatic melanoma) are presented. All four patients previously had been evaluated by competent cardiologists, and the diagnosis of a right ventricular tumor was missed. The initial echocardiograms were interpreted as not showing any right ventricular tumor; but on review we found that the correct diagnosis could have been made. The presence of the right ventricular myxomas was confirmed at angiography and surgery. However, the attachment of the stalk of the mycoma could not be determined confidently by angiography alone, and in two of the three cases two-dimensional echocardiography was required to identify correctly the location of the base of the stalk. This paper emphasizes the usefulness and technical difficulties of M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of a right ventricular tumor.
Subject(s)
Echocardiography , Heart Neoplasms/diagnosis , Myxoma/diagnosis , Adult , Aged , Angiography , Autopsy , Echocardiography/methods , Female , Heart Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Heart Ventricles/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Male , Melanoma/diagnosis , Melanoma/diagnostic imaging , Middle Aged , Myxoma/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
The echocardiographic motion of the aortic root reflects, in part, left atrial filling and emptying. Patients with mitral valve obstruction were studied to determine whether clinically important alterations in patterns of left atrial emptying would alter motion of the posterior aortic wall. Patients with mitral stenosis had a characteristic pattern of slowing of left atrial emptying in early diastole, with loss of the conduit phase in mid-diastole. The atrial emptying index, defined as the fraction of passive posterior aortic wall motion occurring in the first third of diastole, was significantly related to the mitral valve area index (r = 0.86), and thus provides a noninvasive quantitation of the degree of mitral stenosis. Determination of the atrial emptying index also proved useful in the evaluation of patients with prosthetic mitral valve obstruction and in documenting improvement in left atrial emptying after mitral valve surgery.
Subject(s)
Echocardiography , Heart Valve Prosthesis/adverse effects , Mitral Valve Stenosis/diagnosis , Echocardiography/methods , HumansABSTRACT
The normal posterior aortic wall echocardiogram shows anterior motion during left ventricular systole and predominantly posterior motion in three phases during left ventricular diastole. In six patients undergoing simultaneous left atrial angiograms and posterior aortic wall echocardiograms, there was excellent correlation between the posterior aortic wall motion and the change in the left atrial angiographic area showing the value of the posterior aortic wall echocardiogram in describing the left atrial volume curve. Left atrial and left ventricular pressures were measured with manometer tip catheters and correlated with simultaneous posterior aortic wall and mitral valve echocardiograms in four patients with atrial septal defects. These echocardiographic, angiographic, and hemodynamic correlations, as well as other evidence reported in this paper suggest that a major portion of posterior aortic wall motion is related to left atrial events and describes the left atrial volume curve.
Subject(s)
Aorta , Atrial Function , Echocardiography , Adolescent , Adult , Angiography , Cardiac Volume , Child , Child, Preschool , Heart Atria/diagnostic imaging , Hemodynamics , Humans , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Aortic-mitral valve discontinuity has previously been described in double outlet right ventricle, endocardial cushion defect, single ventricle, tetralogy of Fallot, and prolapse of the mitral valve. We are reporting two additional examples of aortic-mitral valve discontinuity including 15 cases of gross left ventricular dilation and a case of acute pneumococcal bacterial endocarditis with a large subannular erosion. While nonspecific, aortic-mitral valve discontinuity is a clinically important sign that should be sought with slow-M-mode scanning and strip chart recording.
