Assessment of the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft patency currently requires invasive investigation through coronary angiography. In the last years the successful application of noninvasive Doppler spectrum analysis has been reported for patency assessment of the LIMA graft after myocardial revascularization. Echocardiography is considered to be a sensitive noninvasive screening modality to diagnose critical narrowing of LIMA grafts and angiography should be reserved for cases in which Doppler echocardiography fails to visualize the LIMA or reveals an abnormal flow pattern.

Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TDE) is a non-invasive and easy reproducible method to assess the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft patency after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). LIMA graft dysfunction is rare, its rate being 10% at 10 to 15 years after revascularization. The most common cause of graft dysfunction is the competitive flow with the native coronary artery, when the stenosis of the bypassed vessels is not severe. We present two cases of LIMA graft dysfunction diagnosed by TDE and confirmed by angiography, with two particular pulsed-wave color Doppler flow signals.

Objective: To determine risk factors for development of post-acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) depression in elderly. Material and Methods: We included 104 elderly patients diagnosed with STEMI. Clinical, lab and imagistic data was recorded in the first week after STEMI. Six months after STEMI patients were evaluated for the presence of depression. Results: Bivariate analysis showed statistically significant association between post-STEMI depression and sex, arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes, socio-economic status, presence of family, left ventricular ejection fraction, Lown classification and HDL-cholesterol values. Multivariate analysis determined that following parameters increased the probability of onset of depression six months post-STEMI in elderly: sex (OR - 3.2), type 2 diabetes (OR - 2.6), poor socio-economic status (OR - 3.5) and absence of family (OR - 4.2). Conclusion: diabetes, precarious socio-economic status, absence of family and female sex were risk factors for post-STEMI depression. Introduction. In last decades numerous studies had as objective the associative relation between cardiovascular diseases and depressive disorder (DD). The risk of DD occurrence after an acute coronary event was evaluated. The impact of post ST-elevation myocardial infarction (PSTEMI) DD determines the formation of a vicious circle with nefarious consequences upon patient's clinical evolution or short and medium prognostic. Trials that studied prevalence of PSTEMI DD had included mainly adults, so, few people over 65 years were present in them. As clinical depression in the elderly is a common finding and an increasing prevalence of STEMI is recorded, we decided to study the implication of some risk factors for onset of DD PSTEMI in the elderly. To that purpose we tried to establish an independent association of some parameters with the occurrence of PSTEMI DD: sex, history of heart disease, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, lipidic profile, smoking, patient's socio-economic status and presence of family. Also we studied the correlation of physiopathologic changes, induced by acute myocardial infarction, and DD: ejection fraction of left ventricle (LVEF), Killip classification and heart rhythm disturbances.

Objective: Wilson's disease (WD) is a genetic, autosomal recessive disorder, which affects the liver, brain and cornea. The condition is rare and it has various presentations, hence its diagnosis is difficult. We aimed to study different clinical presentations, their relation with age and sex and the influence of several factors on the diagnostic score (Leipzig score). Material and Methods: We analyzed retrospectively the medical documents of 24 WD patients examined in 2 nd Pediatric Clinic and 5 th Medical Clinic of Cluj-Napoca, and we collected data concerning the diagnosis. The patients were classified phenotypically (Leipzig classification) and we calculated the Leipzig score. We studied the relation between diagnostic score, clinical phenotype, age at diagnosis and sex. Results: Our group consisted of 7 adults and 17 pediatric patients, F/M = 1/1.4. They were distributed, according to the phenotype, as follows: acute hepatic (H1) - 3 (pediatric, all deceased); chronic hepatic (H2) - 12 (2 adults, 10 pediatric); neurological and hepatic (N1) - 6 (3 adults, 3 pediatric), neurological (N2) - 3 (2 adults, 1 pediatric). The hepatic involvement was inversely correlated with age (p=0.02), which in turn was directly correlated with neurological manifestations (p=0.05). There were no significant differences concerning either distribution on phenotypes in relation with sex and age or between Leipzig score and age, sex, onset modality, presence and severity of hepatic involvement. Conclusion: The presence of hepatic manifestations at the moment of diagnosis of WD decreases with age, while neurological one increases. The distribution on phenotypes was not influenced by age or sex. There is no relation between

Objective -The aim of our study was to evaluate left ventricular diastolic and systolic performance in women diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with low doses of anthracyclines (epirubicin).Methods and results - Thirty-four female patients with breast cancer treated with epirubicin up to 450 mg/m(2) (study group), and a matched control group of 34 women diagnosed with breast tumours, who had not started chemotherapy, were assessed by echocardiography. Left ventricular diastolic function was evaluated by measuring Doppler transmitral flow: the maximal velocity of the E and A waves (rapid filling and atrial filling), the Emax/Amax ratio, the pressure half time (PHT) of the E wave and the isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT).The left ventricular ejection fraction was calculated to assess systolic performance. We documented a significant decrease of Emax, whereas the A wave was significantly increased in the study group compared to the control group.The mitral E/A ratio was below 1 in the study group. Prolonged PHT and IVRT were also detected in the epirubicin-treated group when compared with the control group. Left ventricular systolic performance was not significantly altered in the study group in comparison with the control group.Although the ejection fraction was lower in the study group the difference did not reach statistical significance.Conclusion - Our study certified impaired left ventricular diastolic performance in patients with breast cancer treated with low total doses of epirubicin (<= 450 mg/m(2)).We concluded that diastolic impairment is due to poor left ventricular compliance being an early marker of epirubicin cardiotoxicity that precedes systolic function alterations.

AIM:to estimate the comparative value of conventional radiology and cardiac catheterization in establishing the diagnosis and severity of primary and secondary pulmonary hypertension. We also tried to achieve some correlations between the radiological and invasive parameters.METHODS:we performed a retrospective study over an 11-years time period, analyzing data from a group of 14 patients diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension compared to a matched group of 20 patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension secondary to mitral and aortic valvular disease. All the patients had undergone conventional radiology (chest X-ray) and catheterization of the right heart cavities and pulmonary artery.RESULTS:we detected significantly elevated pulmonary artery pressures and resistances in the primary pulmonary hypertension group compared to secondary hypertension patients. Cardiac output values were much lower in the primary pulmonary hypertension individuals compared with secondary pulmonary hypertension in left-sided valvular disease. The pulmonary artery arch diameter, the diameter of the right descending pulmonary artery and the value of the arterio-bronchial ratio were similar in the two groups.CONCLUSION:in both groups, we found a statistically significant positive correlation between the values of the pulmonary artery vascular resistance and the diameter of the right descending pulmonary artery, which are very specific parameters in the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. In the primary pulmonary hypertension group we identified a significant inverse correlation between the diameter of the right descending pulmonary artery and the values of cardiac output. This finding was not confirmed in the secondary group.

AIM:The value of conventional radiology, electrocardiography and echocardiography in estimating the prevalence of left ventricular (LV) remodeling patterns in patients with newly discovered hypertension was less studied. The aim of the present study was to assess the accuracy of conventional radiology and electrocardiography compared to echocardiography in the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and different remodeling types in male patients with recent primary arterial hypertension (PAH).METHODS:This cross-sectional study, enrolled 420 male patients with recent stage 2 PAH, diagnosed less than a year before, and 420 normotensive male subjects, using conventional radiological methods, ECG and also echocardiography. The ultrasound examination documented four types of LV remodeling, based on the measurement of LV parameters: concentric hypertrophy (CH), eccentric hypertrophy (EH), concentric remodeling (CR) and the normal variant (NV).RESULTS:In the recent PAH group, echocardiography diagnosed LV patterns in different proportions (34.285% CR; 24.285% NV; 21.43% EH; 20% CH), whereas the standard radiological examination and ECG documented LVH positive criteria in a much lower proportion of cases, for these patterns.CONCLUSION:The ECG and radiological examinations detected LVH in patients with EH, and CH, but both examinations were inconclusive in those with CR and NV. This study comparatively reflects the effectiveness of echocardiography, electrocardiography and conventional radiology, in the diagnosis of LV patterns in newly discovered hypertension and also illustrates the arguments for and against the usage of these three imagery techniques.

It is well documented in literature that a majority of small-cell lung cancers are associated with paraneoplastic phenomena. We report the case of a 63-year-old man diagnosed with small-cell lung carcinoma, in whom a severe hyponatremia and renal sodium loss with inappropriate antidiuresis were also found during a routine laboratory testing. Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion was first suspected in this patient, but another complex pathogenetic mechanism involving atrial natriuretic peptides could be associated, potentiating the deflation of the plasma sodium level. In our patient, the plasma-atrial natriuretic peptide base level, determined with a sensitive radioimmunoassay, was above the normal range (183 pg/mL; normal range, 50 pg/mL, +/- 10 pg/mL), and the antidiuretic hormone plasma level had an oscillatory pattern, varying between 5.5 pg/mL and 7 pg/mL (normal range, 0-4.7 pg/mL). We discuss the pathogenesis and clinical aspects of this association and the therapeutic options for these types of patients.

Anthracyclines confer an increased risk of cardiotoxicity. The authors evaluated left ventricular (LV) performance in patients treated with epirubicin. Sixty-eight patients with malignancies (study group), treated with epirubicin < or = 450 mg/m2, and a matched control group of 68 cancer patients who had not started chemotherapy were evaluated by Doppler echocardiography. The authors assessed LV diastolic function by measuring the transmitral flow: the maximal velocity of the E and A waves, the Emax/Amax ratio, the pressure half time of E wave (PHT), and the isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT). Global LV ejection fraction (LVEF) was estimated to determine the systolic performance. The authors documented alterations of the LV diastolic performance in the study group by finding a significant decrease in Emax, whereas Amax was significantly increased. Prolonged PHT and IVRT were also certified in the epirubicin-treated group compared with controls. No significant variation in LVEF between the 2 groups was detected.

PURPOSE:To evaluate and compare the left ventricular performance in female patients with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy (CT) and either left or right thoracic irradiation (RT), using Doppler echocardiography.PATIENTS AND METHODS:Thirty-four patients with cancer of the left breast treated with surgical resection, adjuvant EC CT (epirubicin and cyclophosphamide) and conventionally fractionated left thoracic RT (study group) and a gender-and age-matched group of 34 patients with cancer of the right breast also treated with surgical resection, adjuvant EC CT and right thoracic RT (control group), were studied by echocardiography. Assessed were the left ventricular systolic performance by measuring the global ejection fraction (EF) and the shortening fraction (SF). Left ventricular diastolic performance was assessed by measuring the Doppler transmitral flow: the maximal velocity of the E wave (rapid filling/ Emax) and A wave (atrial filling/Emax) were measured. The ratio of Emax/Amax, the pressure half-time (PHT) of the E wave and the isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) were also calculated.RESULTS:The left ventricular diastolic performance was altered in the study group which showed a significant decrease (p <0.001) of Emax. A wave was significantly increased in the study group compared with the control group (p <0.001. The mitral E/A ratio was subunitary in both groups but more depressed in the study group. The E wave PHT was more prolonged in the study group compared to the control group (p <0.001). The IVRT was prolonged in the study group compared with the controls (p <0.05). The left ventricular systolic performance was within normal limits in both groups.CONCLUSION:Our Doppler echocardiography study documented an impaired left ventricular diastolic performance in patients with cancer of the left breast treated with fractionated thoracic RT and CT. This impairment is due to poor left ventricular compliance.

Increased blood pressure and left ventricular (LV) mass predict the onset of the clinically manifest hypertension, but little is known regarding the possible predictive value of LV function. The present study was designed to evaluate the association between echocardiographic LV long-axis systolic, and diastolic function and hypertension onset. We prospectively followed 244 normotensive adults with a family history of hypertension (HTN), with echocardiography for 7 years. M-mode derived atrioventricular plane displacement of the mitral and tricuspid annuli (MAVPD and TAVPD respectively), and LV circumferential fractional shortening were calculated. Diastolic function of the left and right ventricle were assessed using Doppler indices of the mitral and tricuspid inflow. During follow-up, 79 subjects developed hypertension (H group) and 165 subjects remained normotensive (N group). H group subjects had diminished MAVPD (13.8±3.4 vs 15.0±3.1 mm; P =0.007), lower mitral E/A ratio, and longer mitral E-wave deceleration time as compared to N group. In multivariate Cox model MAVPD and mitral E/A ratio predicted the onset of hypertension independent of LV mass index, blood pressure, pre-hypertensive status at baseline, age, sex and body mass index. During follow-up, H subjects experienced a significant decline in MAVPD and mitral E/A ratio, whereas the indices of right ventricular function and LV circumferential shortening remained intact. In conclusion, alterations in LV long-axis systolic and diastolic function, as measured by MAVPD and E/A ratio predict the onset of hypertension. These parameters declined during the development of hypertension.

PURPOSE In the present study the left ventricular diastolic and systolic functions were evaluated in patients treated with lower total doses of epirubicin using Doppler echocardiography. PATIENTS AND METHODS Seventeen patients with different malignant tumors treated with epirubicin up to 450 mg/m(2) (study group), and a gender-and age-matched group of 29 patients diagnosed with tumors, who had not started treatment yet (control group), were assessed by echocardiography. Left ventricular diastolic function was assessed by measuring the Doppler transmitral flow. We measured the maximal velocity of the E wave (rapid filling) and A wave (atrial filling). The ratio of Emax/Amax, the pressure half time (PHT) of the E wave and the iso-volumic relaxation time (IVRT) were also calculated. The left ventricular systolic performance was assessed by measuring the global ejection fraction (EF). RESULTS The left ventricular diastolic performance was altered in the study group. In this group we noticed a significant decrease ( p < 0.001) of Emax. A wave was significantly increased in the study group compared to the control group ( p < 0.001). The mitral E/A ratio was subunitary in the study group. The E wave PHT was prolonged in the epirubicin-treated group in comparison to the controls (p<0.001). The IVRT was prolonged in the study group in comparison to the controls (p<0.05). The left ventricular systolic performance was not significantly altered in the study group compared to the control group. Although the EF was lower in the study group the difference did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION Our Doppler echocardiography study documented an impaired left ventricular diastolic performance in patients with various malignancies treated with lower total doses of epirubicin. This impairment is due to poor left ventricular compliance.