Abbreviations 2-D two-dimensional (echo) A-fib atrial fibrillation A-wave flow velocity due to atrial contraction BPM beats per minute CMM color M-mode (Doppler) CV cardiovascular CW Doppler continuous wave Doppler (technique) DHF diastolic heart failure E-wave ventricular inflow velocity in early…
Introduction Assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function is fundamental to understanding cardiovascular pathophysiology and guiding accurate diagnosis, especially for patients with heart failure (HF). Invasive hemodynamic assessment was the standard for almost all patients in the 1950s…
Case Study A 63-year-old woman has the following past medical history: 1. Coronary artery disease (drug-eluting stents placed in the right carotid artery [RCA] 3 years prior) 2. Hypertension diagnosed 20 years prior 3. Obesity with a body mass index…
Case Study A 79-year-old obese male (body mass index 33 kg/m 2 ) with prior history of coronary bypass grafting, hypertension, and diabetes presented with New York Heart Association functional class III dyspnea progressive over 1 year. Vitals included a…
Comprehensive assessment of ventricular diastolic function is a complex process. Full elucidation generally requires invasive measurements, such as left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (EDP), the time constant of isovolumic left ventricular (LV) relaxation (τ), the pressure-volume (P-V) relationship of the ventricle…
Case Study DL is a 75-year-old white male with a history of hypertension who presented with a 6-month history of reduced exercise tolerance, dyspnea on exertion, and occasional palpitations. The patient was scheduled for an exercise test but was noted…
Introduction Pericardial diseases are often underdiagnosed and confused with other pathologic entities such as chronic liver diseases, heart failure, and restrictive cardiomyopathies especially in the setting of complicated pericarditis with evolution to constrictive pericarditis. The main reasons for these misunderstandings…
Introduction Heart failure (HF) can be defined physiologically as an inability of the heart to provide sufficient forward output to meet the perfusion and oxygenation requirements of the tissues at rest and during exercise while maintaining normal diastolic filling pressures.…
Although heart failure (HF) has been traditionally affiliated with reduced contractile function and dilation of the left ventricle (LV) resulting in reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), nearly half of HF patients have an ejection fraction that is normal. These patients present…