Sabina Gallina

New echocardiographic technologies in the clinical management of hypertensive heart disease.

Doppler echocardiography is a fundamental instrument to understand heart damage during essential arterial hypertension. Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy may also be conveniently studied in its morphological and functional aspects by ultrasound application. Echocardiography can also provide important morphological and functional information in hypertensive patients for therapeutic management and prognostic stratification. In recent years, echocardiography has been enriched by very refined techniques that are capable of studying the physiopathological intramyocardial phenomena: (i) tissue Doppler (which studies intramyocardial velocities and time intervals and allows the analysis of strain and strain rate); (ii) integrated backscatter (which analyzes variations of myocardial reflectivity in decibels); (iii) transthoracic Doppler derived coronary flow reserve (which quantifies the vasodilator response of coronary velocities to a hyperaemic stimulation); (iv) myocardial echo-contrast-echocardiography (which studies the kinetics of ultrasound contrast microbubbles at the intramyocardial level); and (v) real-time three-dimensional (3-D) echocardiography [which allows a more precise evaluation of left ventricular (LV) volumes and LV mass]. These new methodological approaches have recently been used in the hypertensive clinical setting to provide a deeper knowledge of the complex physiopathological and histopathological mechanisms underlying the modifications induced by arterial hypertension at the myocardial tissue level (myocytes, collagen, microcirculation). This review shows the advancement of high-tech ultrasound applied to hypertensive heart disease, pointing out limitations and incremental potentialities in comparison with conventional echocardiography.

Left ventricular hypertrophy or storage disease? the incremental value of speckle tracking strain bull's-eye

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) develops in response to a variety of physical, genetic, and biochemical stimuli and represents the early stage of ventricular remodeling. In patients with LVH, subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction despite normal ejection fraction (EF) may be present before the onset of symptoms, which portends a dismal prognosis. Strain measurement with two‐dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) represents a highly reproducible and accurate alternative to LVEF determination. The present review focuses on current available evidence that supports the incremental value of STE in the diagnostic and prognostic workup of LVH. When assessing the components of LV contraction, STE has an incremental value in differentiating between primary and secondary LVH and in the differential diagnosis with storage diseases. In addition, STE provides unique information for the stratification of patients with LVH, enabling to detect intrinsic myocardial dysfunction before LVEF reduction.

Mechanical dyssynchrony and functional mitral regurgitation: pathophysiology and clinical implications.

Functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) is a common finding in patients with ischemic or nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy as a complication of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and remodeling associated with a fibrotic remodeling response of mitral leaflets to abnormal valvular loading. Although mitral valve tenting is the main determinant of FMR, clinical and experimental observations suggest that intraventricular delay could be a potential co-determinant of FMR. LV dyssynchrony can potentially contribute to FMR by several mechanisms, such as creating an uncoordinated regional LV mechanical activation in segments supporting the papillary muscles, determining diastolic mitral regurgitation, reducing the sphincteric function of the mitral annulus, and decreasing the efficiency of LV contraction and closing forces. Cardiac resynchronization therapy has been demonstrated to reduce FMR with correction of some of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The present review article focuses on the role of mechanical dyssynchrony as a pathophysiological determinant of FMR, and on the potential role of cardiac resynchronization therapy as a therapeutic option for treatment of FMR in patients with severe heart failure and advanced LV dysfunction.

Practical echocardiography in aortic valve stenosis

Aortic valve stenosis is a common disease. Despite this, the diagnosis may often be missed; a significant proportion of patients are still identified at post-mortem examination, and 5% of operations are performed at end stage. Unrecognized aortic valve stenosis is an important cause of anesthetic mortality. One reason for failing to make a diagnosis is that the clinical signs can be difficult to interpret due to the confounding association with arterial hypertension, coronary artery disease and systemic arteriosclerosis, potentially blunting the effects of aortic valve stenosis on the circulation. Moreover, most patients with aortic valve stenosis have a long asymptomatic period and may not seek medical attention. In patients with severe, symptomatic, calcific aortic valve stenosis, aortic valve replacement is the only effective treatment; much evidence suggests that it should be offered to patients regardless of age, after appropriate clinical evaluation. Doppler echocardiography plays a pivotal role in confirming the diagnosis of aortic valve stenosis in assessing the severity of the disease and, ultimately, in giving prognostically relevant information. Moreover, echocardiography is suitable for monitoring of disease progression and left ventricular function in these patients, and is of fundamental support for clinical follow-up. Accurate noninvasive quantification of aortic valve stenosis is, however, a technically demanding and time-consuming procedure, with several potential pitfalls. Considering the frequency and importance of aortic valve stenosis, a comprehensive echocardiographic study should be offered and carefully performed in all patients with noteworthy murmurs and repeated regularly (at appropriate time intervals), together with clinical review, in patients in whom aortic valve stenosis has been diagnosed.

Current role of echocardiography in patients with pulmonary disease

Pulmonary embolism is a major health problem. Clinical presentation may vary from cardiovascular emergency with high mortality risk to mild or atypical illness, and the diagnosis is not always easy. However, the timeliness of diagnosis and prognostic stratification are crucial because immediate treatment and thromboembolic prophylaxis are highly effective. Echocardiography can play a key role in pulmonary embolism regarding different aspects: diagnosis, risk stratification, and follow-up but sometimes it is not properly used. Therefore, it is important for a physician to know exactly how to utilize echocardiography in pulmonary embolism. The purpose of this paper is to review the role of echocardiography as part of the diagnosis, management and follow-up of acute pulmonary embolism in the light of current literature.

L’ecocardiografia speckle tracking: roadmap per la misurazione e l’utilizzo clinico

Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) has recently emerged as a quantitative technique to accurately estimate myocardial function. By the analysis of the motion of speckles in the two-dimensional ultrasonic image, this technique allows a non-Doppler angle-independent objective analysis of myocardial deformation, with the possibility to quantify thickening, shortening and rotation dynamics of cardiac function. Since this technique does not require Doppler imaging, the analysis is relatively angle-independent and is marginally affected by cardiac in-plane motion artifacts. Data regarding feasibility, reproducibility and diagnostic accuracy appear to be optimal in several clinical contexts. This review describes the fundamental concepts of deformation imaging, explains how to obtain myocardial deformation measurements in clinical practice and highlights current clinical applications of STE. In addition, in relation with the recent extension of STE to three-dimensional echocardiography with the potential for a more comprehensive analysis of global and segmental myocardial function, a window is also opened on the perspectives of three-dimensional STE.

Current role of echocardiography in patients with atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. Cardiologists are often called upon to manage atrial fibrillation both in the acute urgent setting for the presence of hemodynamic compromise and electively for rhythm and/or heart rate control as well as for anti-remodeling strategies. In all these cases echocardiography is generally used. In particular, different echocardiographic techniques (transthoracic, transesophageal) and modalities (two-dimensional, three-dimensional, speckle tracking) can be indicated depending on the stage of the arrhythmia management and the need for cardioversion or interventional procedures. The purpose of this review is to clarify the current role of echocardiography, including specific techniques and modalities, in the managing process of atrial fibrillation.