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Biomedical subjects

J M Felner

Publications and source records attributed to J M Felner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The echocardiographic association of mitral valve prolapse and mitral anulus calcification.

Mitral anulus calcification (MAC) and mitral valve prolapse (MVP) are frequently diagnosed conditions. We studied two patients with mild or moderate mitral regurgitation who demonstrated both MAC and MVP on angiography and echocardiography. M-mode echocardiography is probably the definitive test for confirming the presence of MVP. Echocardiography is moderately sensitive in the diagnosis of cardiac calcification, such as MAC, but M-mode echocardiography may not detect the MAC in the majority of patients with both MVP and MAC demonstrated by angiography.

Calcinosis

Management of the patient with myocardial infarction.

Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease and myocardial infarction constitute an epidemic in this century, mandating that the primary care physician be familiar with their recognition and management. However, in recent decades, an improved understanding of pathophysiologic alterations, an enormous advance in technology and significant accomplishments in pharmacology and operative procedures have virtually revolutionized the management of patients with myocardial infarction. Although patterns of care described in this monograph may well be obsolete a few years hence, to be superseded by safer, more precise, more efficient and more cost-effective therapeutic modalities, nevertheless basic principles underlying the management of the patient with myocardial infarction remain as appropriate guidelines. In the hospital phase, efforts should be directed toward enhancing survival, saving myocardium and restoring function. The long-term ambulatory care should be designed to maintain functional capacities, to control symptoms, to retard or arrest the atherosclerotic process thus decreasing the likelihood of recurrent myocardial infarction and/or of sudden cardiac death and to restore the patient to a normal or near-normal life style.

Acute Disease

Echocardiographically determined mitral valve prolapse in male patients.

Mitral valve prolapse syndrome is a common clinical entity that may occur as an isolated condition or in association with other cardiovascular diseases. In this retrospective study, 41% (23/56) of the male patients with echocardiographically diagnosed mitral valve prolapse had an additional form of cardiovascular disease.

Adolescent

Echocardiography in the diagnosis of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis coexisting with pericardial effusion.

Of 89 patients with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis who had M-mode echocardiagrams recorded, seven patients with coexisting moderate to large pericardial effusions were identified. The clinical profile, M-mode echocardiograms, and cardiac catheterization and angiocardiographic studies in two of the seven patients were analyzed. That the two entities were not associated was suggested by the identification of an etiology for the pericardial effusion in four of the patients. Although the "swinging heart" phenomenon was exhibited in the echocardiograms of each patient, the presence of a significant pericardial effusion did not preclude the ability to establish a diagnosis of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis by M-mode echocardiography.

Adult

Gonococcal endocarditis in the antibiotic era.

Since the introduction of penicillin in 1942, there have been only 11 culture-proven cases of gonococcal endocarditis in the English literature. Most patients are under 30 years of age and have no history of heart disease. The aortic valve is often involved and aortic regurgitation is common. The bacteriologic diagnosis can be difficult and may require more than six blood cultures and a long incubation period. Circulating immune complexes appear to be the cause of many of the extracardiac manifestations. The three new cases reported herein and review of the literature emphasize the distinctive features of gonococcal endocarditis.

Adult

Sequence of cardiac changes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) rarely have clinical evidence of myocardial dysfunction during life. Nevertheless, congestive heart failure is a frequent terminal event and autopsy invariably shows dystrophic myocardial involvement. Little is known regarding the progression of heart functional abnormalities in boys with DMD from birth to death. Therefore we have examined the hearts of 18 DMD boys aged 4 to 15 years with the following non-invasive methods: cardiovascular physical examination, electrocardiography, chest x-ray, serum enzymes, and echocardiography. Control subjects were 25 normal boys matched to their DMD counterparts by age and by body surface area. The dystrophic patients were divided into early (N = 9) and late (N = 9) DMD according to manual muscle testing of skeletal muscles. In early DMD, six of 23 cardiac indices differed from control boys; in the late stage, an additional five indices became abnormal. Early DMD was characterized by these abnormalities: tachycardia, large ECG R/S ratio in V1, augmented q wave voltages in Leads I, II, and V5 of the ECG, diminished contractile excursion of the left venticular posterior wall (LVPW) and interventricular septum, and decreased rate of relaxation of the LVPW. In late DMD additional cardiac abnormalities appeared: enlarged heart volume by x-ray, reduced cardiac ejection fraction, diminished change in left ventricular diameter from diastole to systole, reduced maximal systolic endocardial velocity, and decreased rate of circumferential fiber shortening as detected in the echocardiogram. Most of the cardiac abnormalities were revealed only by echocardiography, which is thus shown to be a sensitive method for monitoring the progression of cardiac dystrophy during the life span of the DMD child.

Adolescent

Idiopathic perforation of a porcine aortic bioprosthesis in the aortic position.

The report of a failure of glutaraldehyde-preserved porcine aortic xenograft bioprosthesis in the aortic position after 13 months is presented. Severe aortic regurgitation resulted from three "idiopathic" perforations in one of the cusps, and a linear tear in another cusp. Light and electron microscopy showed generalized degeneration of collagen thoughout the faulty valve. The absence of a platelet-fibrin coat on edges of the tear suggested a recent origin, compatible with cardiac catheter manipulation during unsuccessful attempts to cross the valve. The histopathologic data from this valve correlate with previously reported failures with formaldehyde preserved xenograft valves.

Aged

Systolic honks in young children.

Three children with loud systolic honks were studied noninvasively with phonocardiography and echocardiography. It was shown that the precordial honk, like the late systolic mitral murmur and the clicking apical systolic sound, is part of a continuum of auscultatory sounds that result from a defect of mitral valve support and are classified under the general heading of mitral valve prolapse syndrome. Prolapse of one or both of the mitral valve leaflets is believed to cause the characteristic auscultatory findings of click, murmur or honk. The timing of these sounds in systole varies with different physiologic or pharmacologic maneuvers. Variations in the onset of prolapse are associated with changes in left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions.

Adolescent

Echocardiographic study of cardiac dimensions and function in the endurance-trained athlete.

Adaptive cardiac responses to isotonic training were studied with echocardiographic measurement of cardiac dimensions and function in 20 endurance runners whose maximal aerobic capacity on the treadmill was 4.88 +/- 0.13 (mean standard error of mean) liters of oxygen/min. They were compared with 26 young sedentary control subjects whose capacity was 3.34 +/- 0.11 liters of oxygen/min (P less than 0.001). A modest degree of right and left ventricular chamber enlargement and left ventricular hypertrophy was observed in endurance runners (left ventricular mass index 140 +/- 6 g/m2 compared with 107 +/- 4 g/m2 in sedentary control subjects, (P less than 0.001). Resting heart rate was slower in endurance runners (51 +/- 2 versus 62 +/- 2 beats/min, P less than 0.001) and resting left ventricular function as evaluated with ejection fraction and maximal posterior wall shortening velocity and mean circumferential shortening velocity (VCF) was comparable or slightly depressed in endurance runners (0.98 +/- 0.03 versus 1.02 +/- 0.05 circumferences/sec [difference not significant]). This study suggests that isotonic training results in adaptive changes in ventricular volume and mass, slower heart rates that may be associated with more efficient pumping function (that is, increasing stroke volume) and insignificant alterations in resting ejection phase indexes of left ventricular function.

Adult

Echocardiographic criteria of the diagnosis of mitral-semilunar valve continuity.

A prospective echocardiographic study of 39 healthy adults with no history of heart disease was conducted to investigate the relationship between the anterior mitral valve leaflet (AMVL) and the posterior aortic root (PAR). The difference between the echocardiographic depth of the AMVL and the depth of the PAR with respect to the chest wall (CW) echoes was measured from both the third and fourth intercostal spaces in both the supine and left lateral positions. The results indicate that there were no statistically significant differences between the two depths in three of four measuring position postures. However, the best correlation between the depth of the AMVL had the PAR was obtained in the fourth ICS supine position. The echocardiographic difference between the CS-PAR and the CW-AMVL was less than or equal to 8 mm. in 90 per cent and less than or equal to 10 mm. in 97 per cent of our subjects in the fourth ICS. In the third intercostal space in the left lateral position, however, there was a statistically significant (P less than 0.01) difference in the two dimensions. In an individual subject, in any of the four possible positions, however, there were differences of up to 14 mm. in the two depths. The AMVL was found to be echocardiographically continuous with the PAR in all cases. An understanding of the normal AMVL-PAR relationship is becoming increasingly important, especially in regard to the application of echocardiography to the diagnosis of congenital heart disease, such as tetralogy of Fallot, double-outlet right ventricle, and transportation of the great vessels and of mitral regurgitation.

Adult

Echocardiographic manifestations of single ventricle.

Eight patients with single ventricle were studied echocardiographically. In six, the ventricular septum was not detectable; in two, a septal-like bulboventricular ridge was identified. Two atrioventricular (A-V) valves were found in all patients; in six, both valves were identified simultaneously with the transducer held stationary along the left sternal edge. Dextro-transposition of the great arteries was noted in three patients. The echocardiogram of one of four patients with levotransposition of the great arteries was consistent with later proved left A-V valve stenosis associated with Ebstein's malformation. Mitral-semilunar valve continuity was presented in five cases. Echocardiographically, the absence of the ventricular septum in a patient with two A-V valves make a diagnosis of single ventricle likely. The presence of ventricular septal-like echoes does not exclude the diagnosis of single ventricle since the right ventricular infundibulum may remain as a small outlet chamber separated from the left ventricle by an eccentric bulboventricular ridge.

Adult

Echocardiogram of the porcine aortic bioprosthesis in the mitral position.

Echocardiography was performed in 10 consecutive patients who had a clinically normally functioning porcine aortic bioprosthesis in the mitral position. Strong well defined echoes were recorded from the anterior and posterior aspects of the xenograft stent. The maximal separation of the anterior and posterior stent echoes approximated the diameter of the stent at its base. The maximal excursion of the anterior stent was 5 to 10 mm (mean 7.5) with a mean systolic slope of 15 to 35 mm/sec (mean 22.2) and diastolic slope of 11 to 59 mm/sec (mean 21.5). In all 10 patients it was possible to record an anterior xenograft leaflet with anterior movement at the onset of diastole and posterior movement at the onset of systole and with appropriately steep (more than 200 mm/sec) slopes. The diastolic (E-F) slope of the anterior leaflet in 9 of the 10 patients ranged from 9 to 38 mm/sec (mean 19). In 6 of the 10 patients a posterior xenograft leaflet with a movement pattern symmetric with that of the anterior leaflet was recorded. In two patients, the central aortic leaflet was recorded with little diastolic displacement. These two patients also had mild aortic regurgitation, which was associated with diastolic shudder of the xenograft leaflets. Echocardiography was also performed in one patient who was later shown to have a 10 cm3 thrombus on the ventricular surface of a xenograft valve. The echocardiogram in this patient revealed the following abnormalities: (1) excessive anterior stent movement and systolic slope suggesting paravalvular leak in the presence of abnormal cinefluoroscopic valve tilt, and (2) multiple dense nonhomogeneous echoes between the anterior and posterior aspects of the valve stent, with an early diastolic clear space behind the anterior stent and abnormal echoes behind the posterior stent during systole. Echocardiography therefore appears to be useful in evaluating the porcine aortic bioprosthesis in the mitral position.

Adult