Journal of Echocardiography最新文献

{"title":"The impact of intraoperative pericardial three-dimensional echocardiography for the atrioventricular valve repair in pediatric patients of congenital heart disease.","authors":"Kosuke Yonehara, Kiyohiro Takigiku, Ryusuke Numata, Yuma Shibuya, Haruka Obinata, Yohei Akazawa, Kohta Takei","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00697-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00697-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>We performed intraoperative pericardial three-dimensional echocardiography (IP3DE) for atrioventricular valve (AVV) repair in patients with congenital heart disease. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the surgical cases of AVV repair and assessed the impact of IP3DE.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent AVV repair at Nagano Children's Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups, the IP3DE group and the control group, which underwent two-dimensional transesophageal or transthoracic echocardiography. Clinical data, including the grade of regurgitation and re-intervention, were compared between the two groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty-six patients in the IP3DE group and 35 in the control group were included. The preoperative median grade was 3 (maximum 2-minimum 4) and 3 (2-4) in the IP3DE and control groups, respectively. After surgery, median grade was decreased to 1 (1-4) and 2 (1-4) in the IP3DE and control groups, respectively. 80% and 54% of patients showed successful outcome (grade ≤ 2 after repair) in the IP3DE and control groups, respectively, which demonstrated that IP3DE contributed significantly to successful outcome (p < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study demonstrated, for the first time, the effectiveness of IP3DE in AVV repair in pediatric patients. IP3DE allows the visualization of clear 3D images and easy information sharing among cardiac vascular surgeons.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144754763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond the left ventricle: three-dimensional echocardiographic analysis of biventricular synchronization after cardiac resynchronization therapy.","authors":"Hisashi Okada, Shohei Kikuchi, Yomei Sakurai, Kosuke Hayashi, Kiyomi Kayama, Yasuhiro Shintani, Yu Kawada, Tatsuya Mizoguchi, Masashi Yokoi, Sayuri Yamabe, Kento Mori, Tsuyoshi Ito, Shuichi Kitada, Toshihiko Goto, Yoshihiro Seo","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00700-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00700-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) aims to improve intraventricular dyssynchrony, but the impact on interventricular dyssynchrony remains unclear. This study investigates biventricular mechanical synchronization under different CRT pacing configurations using three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (3D-STE).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed 22 heart failure patients with CRT implantation using 3D-STE under four pacing modes: Own/right ventricular pacing (Own/RV pacing), simultaneous biventricular pacing (LVRV pacing), biventricular pacing with 30 ms left ventricular (LV) lead preactivation (LV30RV pacing), and LV only pacing (LV pacing). Activation imaging (AI) quantified mechanical propagation, comparing mean AI differences between both ventricles (LV-RV difference), and the standard deviation of AI (AI-SD) for each region to assess the interventricular dyssynchrony and dispersion of mechanical propagation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>LV-RV difference was greater in Own/RV pacing than in LVRV pacing, LV30RV pacing and LV pacing (p = 0.12, 0.016, 0.009, respectively), indicating the prominent interventricular dyssynchrony. (LV-RV difference: Own/RV pacing: 41.1 ± 32.3 ms, LVRV pacing: 22.6 ± 29.2 ms, LV30RV pacing: 2.4 ± 38.5 ms, LV pacing: 17.8 ± 37.7 ms). In LVRV and LV30RV pacing, the AI-SD for both ventricles was significantly reduced compared to Own/RV pacing and LV pacing (p = 0.002, 0.005, 0.015, 0.002, respectively), indicating that biventricular pacing improved dyssynchrony in both ventricles (Own/RV pacing AI-SD: 57.1 ± 17.3, LVRV pacing AI-SD: 44.7 ± 12.7, LV30RV pacing AI-SD 47.0 ± 16.1, LV pacing AI-SD: 58.0 ± 17.0).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>3D-STE provides a comprehensive assessment of biventricular mechanical propagation, revealing that LVRV and LV30RV pacing improve both intraventricular and interventricular synchrony. Incorporating RV mechanics into CRT optimization may enhance patient selection and treatment outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144733768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A case of possible MINOCA detected through echocardiography.","authors":"Satoshi Nakatani, Yuri Tanaka, Mayu Nishio, Seiki Hamada, Keiji Hirooka","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00699-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00699-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144709417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Utility of echocardiographic parameters in predicting cardiac immune-related adverse events in Japanese patients undergoing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.","authors":"Junya Yamaguchi, Tetsuji Morishita, Hiroyasu Uzui, Kanae Hasegawa, Hiroyuki Ikeda, Hiroshi Tada","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00698-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00698-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed cancer treatment but are associated with immune-related adverse events, including cardiac immune-related adverse events (cardiac irAEs). Early identification of patients at risk for cardiac irAEs is crucial, and echocardiographic parameters may serve as valuable predictors. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive utility of echocardiographic indices in assessing cardiac irAE risk in Japanese patients receiving ICI therapy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective study analyzed patients treated with ICIs at the University of Fukui Hospital between November 2015 and October 2018. Cardiac irAEs were defined according to the ESC guidelines.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 73 patients, six (8%) developed cardiac irAEs, with no fatalities. Echocardiographic assessment before ICI initiation revealed that patients who later developed cardiac irAEs had significantly lower ejection fractions (EFs) (p < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that left ventricular end-systolic diameters (LVDs) (area under the curve: AUC = 0.660) and EFs (AUC = 0.797) had moderate predictive value for cardiac irAEs. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a higher probability of cardiac irAEs in patients with LVDs and EFs beyond specific thresholds (p < 0.01). Poisson regression analysis indicated a decreasing risk of cardiac irAEs over time after ICI initiation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Baseline echocardiographic parameters, particularly LVDs and EFs, can be useful predictors of cardiac irAEs in patients receiving ICI therapy. Early echocardiographic evaluation may facilitate risk stratification and improve monitoring strategies for cardiac irAEs.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial registration number: </strong>UMIN000023840.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144709418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novel deep learning framework for simultaneous assessment of left ventricular mass and longitudinal strain: clinical feasibility and validation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.","authors":"Jiesuck Park, Yeonyee E Yoon, Yeonggul Jang, Taekgeun Jung, Jaeik Jeon, Seung-Ah Lee, Hong-Mi Choi, In-Chang Hwang, Eun Ju Chun, Goo-Yeong Cho, Hyuk-Jae Chang","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00694-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00694-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aims to present the Segmentation-based Myocardial Advanced Refinement Tracking (SMART) system, a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based framework for transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) that incorporates motion tracking and left ventricular (LV) myocardial segmentation for automated LV mass (LVM) and global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) assessment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The SMART system demonstrates LV speckle tracking based on motion vector estimation, refined by structural information using endocardial and epicardial segmentation throughout the cardiac cycle. This approach enables automated measurement of LVM_SMART and LVGLS_SMART. The feasibility of SMART is validated in 111 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients (median age: 58 years, 69% male) who underwent TTE and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>LVGLS_SMART showed a strong correlation with conventional manual LVGLS measurements (Pearson's correlation coefficient [PCC] 0.851; mean difference 0 [-2-0]). When compared to CMR as the reference standard for LVM, the conventional dimension-based TTE method overestimated LVM (PCC 0.652; mean difference: 106 [90-123]), whereas LVM_SMART demonstrated excellent agreement with CMR (PCC 0.843; mean difference: 1 [-11-13]). For predicting extensive myocardial fibrosis, LVGLS_SMART and LVM_SMART exhibited performance comparable to conventional LVGLS and CMR (AUC: 0.72 and 0.66, respectively). Patients identified as high risk for extensive fibrosis by LVGLS_SMART and LVM_SMART had significantly higher rates of adverse outcomes, including heart failure hospitalization, new-onset atrial fibrillation, and defibrillator implantation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The SMART technique provides a comparable LVGLS evaluation and a more accurate LVM assessment than conventional TTE, with predictive values for myocardial fibrosis and adverse outcomes. These findings support its utility in HCM management.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144620764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clinical utility of the left atrial strain analysis.","authors":"Katsuji Inoue, Masaru Obokata","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00695-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00695-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The importance of left atrial (LA) function is recognized, especially when left ventricular function fails or atrial fibrillation occurs and heart failure (HF) develops. A compensatory mechanism of LA function unremittingly operates to maintain cardiac performance and prevent the occurrence of HF. LA function consists of three components: booster pump, reservoir, and conduit function. Echocardiography enables assessment of these components of LA function by LA volumetric changes in one cardiac cycle. Currently, LA strain has emerged as a valuable diagnostic and prognostic tool in patients with various cardiovascular diseases. An aging society is confronted with an issue of public health due to an increased number of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Because effective medical and interventional approaches for patients with HFpEF are limited, early diagnosis and prevention are important to avoid a transition from preclinical HF stage to clinically overt HFpEF. Echocardiography with LA strain analysis and exercise stress echocardiography have the potential to identify patients with undiagnosed HFpEF, thus facilitating several preventive and therapeutic interventions. In this review, the development, measurement, and clinical application of LA strain are summarized and future perspectives in preventive medicine, accurate diagnosis, and therapeutic guidance for patients with HF are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144555281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unicuspid aortic valve diagnosed by transthoracic 3-dimensional echocardiography with rapidly progressing aortic stenosis.","authors":"Mayu Nakamoto, Toru Ariyoshi, Kaori Murakawa, Hitoshi Nagai, Ayumi Omuro, Shinichi Okuda, Motoaki Sano","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00692-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00692-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144530202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Echocardiographic speckle tracking as a tool for detecting acute total occlusion in non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a case-control study.","authors":"Manoj Kumar Rohit, Bhupendra Kumar Sihag, Pruthvi C Revaiah, Pragya Karki, Akash Batta, Nitin Kumar J Patel, Bharat Singh Sambyal, Atit A Gawalkar","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00696-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00696-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is conventionally attributed to subtotal or transient occlusion. ECG is crucial but has limited sensitivity for detecting acute total occlusion in patients with NSTEMI. We propose that speckle tracking echocardiography-derived indices serve as early indicators of coronary artery occlusion in NSTEMI.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this case-control study, 47 patients with first-time hemodynamically stable NSTEMI were enrolled and underwent echocardiography and coronary angiography. Patients were divided into acute occlusion and non-occlusion groups for analysis. Reproducibility analysis was done in a separate cohort of 22 patients with each patient undergoing three sets of strain echocardiography analysis: twice by the principal observer on two different instances (for intra-observer reproducibility) and once by second observer on the first instance (for inter-observer reproducibility).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study included 24 cases (patients with acute total occlusion) and 23 controls (patients without acute total occlusion). There was no difference between the two groups in relation to baseline characteristics. Left-ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) did not differ significantly between the two groups. Median longitudinal strain (LS) of the culprit artery territory was significantly lower in the cases group [8.1(7.1-12.6) vs 11.6(10.9-14.1), and p = 0.003]. The lowest recorded mean territorial (LRMT) LS of any territory in a given patient was significantly lower in the cases group compared to the control group [8.1(6.7-12.1) vs. 11(10.2-13), p = 0.04). The receiver-operator curve of LRMT LS showed an area under the curve of 0.74. A cut-off value 10.7 for LRMT LS had a sensitivity of 70.8% and specificity of 70% in detecting acute total occlusion. Reproducibility analysis of GLS and territorial strain (each territory separately) showed moderate-to-good [interclass correlation coefficient (ICC)) of ≥ 0.5] inter-observer and intra-observer reproducibility in most of parameters except in territorial strain of left circumflex artery territory which showed poor intra-observer reproducibility (ICC of 0.49).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The lowest recorded mean territorial LS in patients with NSTEMI showed promising sensitivity and specificity in detecting acute total occlusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144508795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Head to head comparison of left atrial and ventricular strain at rest in the prediction of exercise-induced elevated left ventricular filling pressure in patients without obvious myocardial ischemia.","authors":"Tsutomu Takagi","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00693-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00693-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Previous studies have reported that left atrial (LA) and left ventricular (LV) strain at rest can predict exercise-induced elevated LV filling pressure. However, head to head comparison of LA and LV strain is very limited. The purpose of this study was to compare the peak atrial longitudinal stain (PALS) and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) in the prediction of exercise-induced elevated LV filling pressure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>From January 2018 to December 2022, 286 consecutive patients underwent treadmill stress echocardiography. Patients with atrial fibrillation, septal E/e' ≥ 15 at rest, and LV ejection fraction < 50% were excluded from the study. Patients lacking PALS or GLS and those with exercise-induced LV wall motion abnormality were also excluded. Finally, 204 patients were enrolled to the analysis. All patients underwent symptom-limited treadmill stress echocardiography, and exercise-induced elevated LV filling pressure was defined as post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty eight of the 204 patients had post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15. Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis revealed the best cutoff value of 23.8% for PALS (sensitivity 67%, specificity 66%, respectively) and -17.7% for GLS (sensitivity 85%, specificity 65%, respectively) to predict post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15. Univariate logistic analysis demonstrated that higher age, impaired PALS, impaired GLS, and raised septal E/e' at rest were associated with post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15. However, multivariate logistic analysis revealed that age, GLS, and E/e' were independent predictors of post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15, but PALS was not.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Both impaired PALS and GLS at rest can predict post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15.0 modestly. However, multivariate logistic analysis has demonstrated that impaired GLS, not PALS, was an independent predictor of exercise-induced elevated LV filling pressure estimated by post-exercise septal E/e' ≥ 15.</p>","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144477213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Larger papillary muscle rupture following small partial papillary muscle rupture after myocardial infarction.","authors":"Keisuke Shoji, Naotoshi Wada, Tetsuya Nomura, Katsuji Fujiwara, Keitarou Koshi, Natsuya Keira, Tetsuya Tatsumi","doi":"10.1007/s12574-025-00690-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12574-025-00690-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Echocardiography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}