Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Di Segni.
We describe a female affected by diaphragmatic hernia and nasopharyngeal teratoma. The case is compared with one already reported and possible diagnoses discussed. These cases appear to represent a new syndrome.
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The aim of this study was to compare dipyridamole and dobutamine stress echocardiography, performed early in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to evaluate residual ischemia, viability, and prognosis. Fifty patients (mean age 55 +/- 9 years, 47 men, 3 women) with AMI, all treated with thrombolytic therapy, underwent standard dipyridamole and dobutamine tests, within the fifth day of the event. Wall motion score index and the 16 segments model were used to evaluate contractility. Forty-seven patients underwent coronary angiography within the tenth day of the event. The mean follow-up was 24 +/- 12 months. No side effects occurred during both tests. Both dipyridamole and dobutamine tests were positive for ischemia, in 32 and 33 of 47 patients, respectively (sensitivity 73% and 75%; specificity 67% and 67%); these tests induced an improvement of contractility in 23 and 38 of 139 abnormal segments at baseline, respectively (sensitivity 52% and 86%; specificity 100% and 100%). Cardiac events occurred in 26 of 50 patients, 22 with a positive dipyridamole test and 21 with positive dobutamine test. Thus, both tests were feasible, safe, and useful to evaluate residual ischemia, viability, and prognosis. No significant differences were found in sensitivity and specificity between tests.
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BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography is a new diagnostic tool and its potential has been investigated mainly in international centers dealing with research in the field of cardiac pathologies. The clinical usefulness and the potential additional information over multiplane transesophageal echocardiography in daily clinical practice have not been exstensively studied. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the feasibility and to define the potential role of three-dimensional technique in a clinical cardiology department. POPULATION AND METHODS: One hundred-fifty patients (73 males, 77 females) aged 17-82 underwent a three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic study. Indications for the study were the following: 39 mitral (26%), 13 aortic (8%) and 4 tricuspidal (2%) valvulopathies, 23 valvular prostheses (15%), 6 aortic diseases (4%), 16 sources of embolism (10%), 16 congenital heart diseases (10%), 14 ischemic heart diseases (9.3%), 14 cardiomyopathies (9%), 5 other pathologies (3%). The 3 D examination quality was graded as insufficient, sufficient and good. The information obtained by "volume rendered" and "anyplane" three-dimensional echocardiography were compared with the traditional two-dimensional images to determine whether they provided additional information. RESULTS: A total of 288 acquisitions were obtained in the 150 patients (1.9 acquisitions per patient). Examinations were graded of good quality in 99 patients (61%), sufficient in 36 (24%) and insufficient in 15 patients (10%). Additional informations were obtained in 33 patients (22%) by "volume rendered" echocardiography and by "anyplane echocardiography", including mitral regurgitation or repair for valvular prolapse (11 patients), aortic valve malformations and endocarditis (4 patients), congenital heart diseases (9 patients), right ventricular dysplasia (6 patients) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (1 patient), tricuspid regurgitation (2 patients). The additional information were obtained in patients in the group of good 3 D reconstructions quality in all but two cases. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic use of the transesophageal technique with 3 D facilities permitted to obtain an overall 22% of additional information. These results will stimulate further study to evaluate the advantages of the three-dimensional technique in specific clinical fields of application.
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The significance of anterior ST segment depression in inferior acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains controversial. The aim of this study was to relate precordial ST segment depression to the topography of residual myocardial ischaemia, with myocardial mapping of the asynergic area and coronary anatomy. Twenty-five patients with first inferior AMI (15 patients with anterior ST segment depression: group A and 10 patients without anterior ST segment shift: group B), all underwent: (1) electrocardiographic evaluation on admission to the Coronary Care Unit and at 24 h intervals thereafter; (2) 2D-echocardiographic study within 3 h of CCU admission; (3) dipyridamole echocardiographic test (DET) (doses of dipyridamole up to 0.84 mg.kg-1 i.v. over 10 min) 4 days after AMI; (4) coronary arteriography within 14 days from AMI. To assess regional left ventricular wall motion, a 16 segment model was used and a wall motion score index (WMSI) was derived. The results of DET were correlated to the anatomy of the infarct-related vessel. Compared to group B, group A patients showed a significantly greater maximal ST segment elevation in inferior limb leads (lead III: 3.9 +/- 1.9 mm vs 2.2 +/- 1.1 mm, P < 0.05; aVF: 3.5 +/- 1.3 mm vs 1.7 +/- 0.8 mm, P < 0.001). Group A patients showed greater WMSI (1.35 +/- 0.22 vs 1.17 +/- 0.12, P < 0.05), with more frequent postero-lateral wall involvement (72% vs 20%, P < 0.05). No patient of either group showed asynergy of the anterior, anterolateral or anteroseptal segments. No differences in the distribution of coronary artery disease were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the ability of Dipyridamole Echocardiography Test (DET)--performed early after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI)--to assess: a) the presence of induced ischemia and its relation with coronary artery stenoses; b) the presence of myocardial viability and the comparison with late wall motion; c) the appearance of cardiac events during hospitalization and in the following period. METHODS: Ninety-five patients with AMI, subjected to thrombolytic therapy and without complications, underwent a DET on the 4th-5th day. All had a coronary angiography on the 8th-10th day; stenoses were deemed significative when > or = 70%. DET was carried out after drug discontinuance and following standard protocol; parietal kinesis was analyzed according to a 14 segment model. The myocardium was deemed viable when an improvement of a basal dyskinesis was noted; ischemia was considered when a new asynergy appeared or a basal dyskinesis worsened or enlarged; a wall motion score index (WMSI) was calculated. All 95 pts. had a clinical follow-up at 12 +/- 6 months (3-18); 62 pts. had a late echocardiographic examination at 6 +/- 3 months (3-15). RESULTS: Induced ischemia appeared in 59/95 pts. (62%): in 6/14 pts. (42%) without significative stenoses, in 29/49 pts. (59%) with a single vessel disease, and in 24/32 pts. (75%) with multivessel disease. In identifying multivessel disease, DET sensibility (SE) was 75% and specificity (SP) was 95-97%. In single or no vessel disease WMSI changed from 1.42 to 1.49 (p < 0.0001); in multivessel disease WMSI changed from 1.52 to 1.69 (p < 0.0001). As regards the assessment of diseased vessel(s), DET showed little accuracy when dyskinesis appeared in the basal segments of the inferior and lateral wall or in the mid-apical segments of the anterior and lateral wall; DET properly identified the culprit vessel when dyskinesis appeared in the remaining segments. Myocardial viability was noted in 26% of dyskinetic segments. In single or no vessel disease WMSI changed from 1.41 (basal--> B) to 1.35 (viability phase--> V) and was found 1.31 at the late echocardiography (L): p < 0.0001 between B and V, and between B and L. In multivessel disease WMSI changed from 1.5 (B) to 1.47 (V) and to 1.5 (L): p < 0.05 between B and V, NS between B and L. In comparison with late echocardiography, DET SE was 70%, SP 99%, positive predictive value (PPV) 97%, negative predictive value (NPV) 86%. As regards the prognostic value about cardiac events, DET SE was 80% and NPV was 78%; about only major cardiac events, the respective values are 91% and 97%. CONCLUSIONS: DET performed early after an AMI allows a better prognostic assessment, as it provides information about: a) the place and the severity of coronary artery stenoses; b) the presence and the extension of induced ischemia and of myocardial viability; c) the risk of subsequent cardiac events.
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BACKGROUND: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a useful means in the diagnosis of acute aortic dissection (AD), owing to its very high sensibility and specificity. In this study, TEE was performed to assess post-surgical evolution. PATIENTS: Between 1982 and 1991, 119 pts. were operated on in our institution for AD (De Bakey I and II type): 87 pts. underwent replacement of the ascending aorta with a composite tubular graft bearing a mechanical valve; 26 had a simple tubular graft and 6 had aortic reconstruction. Sixty-eight of 72 discharged pts. were followed for up to 9.5 years (mean 4.5 +/- 2.6). Nine years after surgery actuarial survival of discharged pts. was 75%. Seven pts. died after a mean period of 3.4 years from surgery: only one died from postoperative complication (dehiscence of proximal anastomosis), none for aortic rupture distal to the graft. TEE was performed in 32 of these pts. and in other two operated on elsewhere, after 4.4 +/- 2.7 years from surgery; before the operation, type I AD was diagnosed in 23 pts. and type II in 11 pts. RESULTS: In 10/11 pts. with type II AD the aortic arch and the descending aorta looked normal; in one patient a localized intimal flap was found up to the arch. The descending aorta diameter was somewhat higher than in normal subjects (25.2 +/- 2.8 vs 21.9 +/- 3.7 mm), but in only one case was it beyond 2DS (32 mm). In all type I pts. an intimal flap persisted distal to the graft, along the whole thoracic aorta. Within the false lumen a flow was detected by color-Doppler in 14/23 pts. (61%), and spontaneous echo-contrast was noted in 14 pts. (61%). A thrombus was observed in 7 pts. (30%) and it was generally localized; in only one case it was extensive with total obliteration of the false lumen. In 16 pts. (70%) communications between the two lumina were found. The descending aorta diameter ranged from 25 to 53 mm, and mean value was higher than in normal subjects (34.2 +/- 6.2 vs 21.9 +/- 3.7 mm). CONCLUSIONS: In most pts. with type II AD, surgery can be a definitive treatment, as the remaining aorta keeps to normal size and appearance. In type I AD, operation is only palliative, as the dissection persists: the false lumen is often perfused through one or more communications with the true lumen and seldom its obliteration is noted. The persistence of dissection does not necessarily seem to be an ominous finding, as the survival of the study population was high and no patient died from aortic rupture. Nevertheless, long-term prognosis can be affected by aorta dilation that often (but not always) follows the persistence of wall dissection. For its high reliability, easy feasibility and low cost TEE is a very useful method for following up patients operated on for AD and for detecting those who are at higher risk of aortic rupture because of lumen dilation.
Seven hundred sixty-nine patients (pts) admitted to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) between January 1987 and January 1990 suffering from first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were studied. The presence of left ventricular thrombosis (LVT) was evaluated by two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-echo). The relation of LVT to site, size and intra-CCU clinical outcome of AMI, in terms of systemic embolic events, Killip class and mortality, was also assessed. AMI was transmural in 707 pts (92%), anterior in 446 pts (58%) and inferior in 261 pts (34%), non-Q in 62 pts (8%). Two hundred sixty-one pts (34%) were treated with IV thrombolytic therapy followed by IV heparin 1000 IU/h over 12 hrs and then calcium heparin (CH) 12500 IU s.c. bid; 508 pts (66%) were given only antithrombotic therapy (CH 12500 IU s.c. bid). 2D-Echo was performed within 48 hours and on day 5-7 from the onset of AMI. In 41 pts (5.3%) LVT was observed: 39 had anterior AMI (8.7% of all anterior AMI pts), one had inferior AMI (0.4% of all inferior AMI pts), and one had non-Q AMI (1.6% of all non-Q AMI pts) [p less than 0.001 for anterior AMI vs inferior and non-Q AMI]. Pts with LVT had a greater infarct size (number of akinetic plus dyskinetic segments/total number of segments x 100) compared to pts without LVT (32.3 +/- 12.6% vs 16.4 +/- 5.7%, p less than 0.001). In pts treated with thrombolytic therapy, LVT incidence was not significantly different from that of pts treated with antithrombotic therapy (4.2% vs 5.9%) alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence and the type of cardiac abnormalities in patients with HIV infection. Echocardiographic examination (M-mode, two-dimensional and Doppler) was performed in 51 patients (40 male, 11 female), whose mean age was 29 +/- 10 years; 48 of them (94%) were intravenous drug addicts, 3 (6%) homosexuals. Diagnosis was AIDS in 19 (37%) patients, AIDS related complex in 19 (37%) and asymptomatic infection in 13 (26%). Echocardiography was normal in 13 subjects. Pericardial effusion was found in 19 patients (in 8 of them, this was the only cardiac abnormality). Valve vegetations were found in 16 patients (3 of them had pericardial effusion, 5 had ventricular dilatation or wall motion abnormalities, 1 had both pericardial and myocardial impairment). Myocardial dysfunction was found in 18 patients: 11 had left ventricular dilatation (5 with wall hypokinesia), 1 had right ventricular enlargement, 1 had biventricular dilatation and 5 had only wall motion abnormalities (diffuse or localized). During the follow-up 9 patients died: 8 had AIDS, 1 was asymptomatic. Eight subjects died during hospitalization (none because of cardiac causes) and one at home for sudden unexplained death. Echocardiography had displayed myocardial dysfunction in 6 of them, thickened pericardium in 1 and was normal in 2. Pathologic examination (performed in 8 subjects) showed cardiac enlargement in 3 subjects, thickened pericardium in 2 and valve vegetation in 1. One subject had histopathologic diagnosis of myocarditis and 7 had non specific histologic abnormalities. The study shows a cardiac involvement in 75% of HIV infected patients: 35% had myocardial dysfunction, 37% pericardial disease, 31% infective endocarditis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Using phonocardiography, continuous- and pulsed-wave Doppler, 51 patients with precordial "musical" murmurs (49 with cardiac abnormalities) and 21 patients with noisy murmurs were examined. With M-mode echocardiography, fine fluttering of the structure generating the murmur was evident in 23 patients with musical murmurs and in 5 with noisy murmurs. A continuous-wave Doppler spectral signal characterized by parallel harmonics (Doppler musical signal) was evident in all patients with musical murmurs and in none with a noisy murmur. With pulsed-wave Doppler, the musical signal had less defined spectral features because of range ambiguity. Such a signal was experimentally reproduced by activating a diapason bathed in saline solution. The source of the musical murmur was established in all 51 patients by Doppler. The musical signal was associated with a valvular regurgitation signal in 36 patients and with a ventricular septal defect in 1 patient. The musical signal always disappeared when the pulsed-wave Doppler sample volume was placed 2 cm away from the generating structure. In 11 patients with musical murmur examined by color Doppler, no abnormal bidirectional flow signal was observed in the structures generating the signal. In 6 of the patients without valvular regurgitation, no flow disturbance was found. In conclusion, Doppler is valuable in determining the source of musical murmurs, and musical murmurs are caused by a vibrating structure even in the absence of flow turbulence.
The origin of systolic or diastolic musical murmurs was investigated by means of echo-doppler examination in 51 patients with various cardiac diseases. In all cases a typical doppler spectrum was identified, showing bi-directional clusters of frequencies which were concentric in systole and parallel in diastole. The doppler audio signal was musical. A similar echo-doppler signal was obtained by a diapason vibrating in isotonic solution. These data allowed us to identify the site of the vibrating cardiac structure causing the typical echo-doppler spectrum and characteristic audio signal.
The study was performed to assess Doppler echocardiographic features of mitral and aortic prosthetic valves of different types with both normal and abnormal function. Two hundred and twenty-three patients with 250 prostheses were studied. Two hundred eight valves (111 mitral, 95 aortic and 2 tricuspid) were considered to be functioning normally after clinical examination, phonocardiography and M-mode and 2D echocardiography. This group enabled us to define normal Doppler echocardiographic findings for different types of prosthesis. In mitral position, peak (p) and mean (m) gradients were lower for disc prostheses and higher for ball and biological prosthetic valves; values of effective orifice area (A), calculated by pressure half-time method, were lower for biological and ball prostheses and higher in disc valves. Results were as follows: St. Jude (p 10.6 mmHg, m 3.9 mmHg, A 2.7 cm2), Duromedics (p 10.6, m 4.3, A 2.8), Björk-Shiley (p 10.4, m 4, A 2.3), Omniscience (p 14.2, m 6.2, A 2.1), Starr-Edwards (p 15.9, m 5.4, A 2.1), Hancock (p 14.7, m 6, A 2), Carpentier (p 13.2, m 5.4, A 1.9). Mild regurgitation, considered "physiological", was found in 2/8 Carpentier valves and in 3/34 St. Jude prostheses. In aortic valves lower peak gradients were found in Lillehei (18.3 mmHg), St. Jude (23.8 mmHg), Björk-Shiley (26 mmHg), Duromedics (27 mmHg) and higher values in Starr-Edwards (30.2 mmHg), Hancock (30 mmHg) and Omniscience (35.5 mmHg) prostheses. Mild regurgitation, considered "physiological", was found in 17% of Omniscience valves, 21% of Hancock, 33% of Duromedics, 45% of St. Jude, 60% of Björk-Shiley prostheses. Hancock mitral valves implanted for over 7 years had a mean gradient higher than valves with a shorter period of implantation (7.6 vs 4.85 mmHg, p less than 0.1), whereas the effective orifice area was similar. Hancock aortic valves implanted for over 7 years had a peak gradient slightly higher than the other group (implantation less than 7 years previously), but the difference was not statistically significant. Forty-two valves (19 aortic and 23 mitral) were considered to be malfunctioning. Regurgitation Doppler signals of malfunctioning valves appeared different from those of "physiological" reverse flow; in the former cases forward gradient was higher than normal prostheses. In stenotic aortic prostheses, peak systolic gradient was greatly increased; in stenotic mitral prostheses, a very significant increase in mean gradient and a great decrease in effective orifice area were found. In 14 patients who underwent surgical re-operation and in the patient who died before operation, Doppler echocardiographic findings were confirmed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Ranitidine increases liver "lipoperoxide" content of colchicine-treated rats while decreasing that of rats given emetine. Lipid content is increased by ranitidine in livers of rats dosed with ethanol. No significant effects of ranitidine were observed under the other conditions here studied. Cimetidine does never provoke significant modifications.
The value of pulsed Doppler echocardiography in assessing the presence and severity of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has been studied in three groups of subjects, 12 without cardiovascular disease (Group I), 38 with TR (Group II) and 16 patients with aortic and mitral valve disease but no TR (Group III). The presence and severity of TR was also independently evaluated by clinical examination, jugular vein pulse recording and/or hemodynamic investigation. Left parasternal, sub-xyphoid and apical views were adapted for the pulsed Doppler echocardiographic examination. The sample volume was placed in the right atrium at varying distances from the tricuspid valve. We tried to quantitate the degree of TR according to: 1) the diameter and maximal distance from the tricuspid valve of the regurgitant stream, 2) the duration of reguritation through systole, and 3) the degree of turbolence as demonstrated by the time interval histograms. On the basis of above mentioned criteria, three subgroups of subjects with TR, i.e. mild, moderate and severe were recognised. These results were compared to hemodynamic and/or clinical-poligraphic evaluation. In 34 Group II subjects (89%), the Doppler study revealed the presence of TR and allowed an acceptable quantitative assessment. Falsely positive diagnoses were not made in any of the subjects of Group I. Identification of organic TR in patients with atrial fibrillation was possible only when regurgitation was moderate or severe.