The vital role the ductus arteriosus plays in the fetal diagnosis of congenital heart disease: Evaluation by fetal echocardiography in combination with an innovative cardiovascular cast technology.

Background: The ductus arteriosus (DA) is one of the most important vessels of the fetal circulation. A variety of fetal congenital heart disease (CHD) may greatly influence the structure and flow patterns of the DA. This study was to investigate the structural characteristics of the DA and its value in the diagnosis of fetal CHD using fetal echocardiography combined with cardiovascular casting technology.

The diagnostic value of transthoracic echocardiography for eosinophilic myocarditis: A single center experience from China.

The aim of this study is to explore the value of transthoracic echocardiography in the diagnosis of eosinophilic myocarditis. The echocardiographic characteristics of nine patients with eosinophilic myocarditis in our hospital between January 2004 and January 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. In our study, four of the nine patients were diagnosed to have small pericardial effusion.

Diagnostic Value of Transthoracic Echocardiography in Patients with Coarctation of Aorta: The Chinese Experience in 53 Patients Studied between 2008 and 2012 in One Major Medical Center.

Although aortography is well known as the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of coarctation of aorta (CoA), the method is invasive, expensive and not readily accepted by some patients. Ultrasound diagnosis for CoA is non-invasive, inexpensive, readily accepted by every patient, and can be repeated as frequently as necessary. The purpose of this presentation is to evaluate the applicability of transthoracic echocardiography for the diagnosis of CoA.

The value of transthoracic echocardiography in the diagnosis of anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta: A single center experience from China.

Background: Anomalous origin of pulmonary artery (AOPA) from the ascending aorta is a rare but serious congenital cardiac malformation, which frequently involves the right pulmonary artery (RPA).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the echocardiographic characteristics of 9 cases with anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta (AORPA) studied from 2007 to 2014 in our institution. The results were compared with the findings at surgery.

WITHDRAWN: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Genotype-positive, phenotype-"almost" negative. Diagnostic role of exercise in provocation of left ventricular outflow tract gradient.

The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published, http://dx.doi.org/10.

The effect of right ventricular myocardial remodeling on ventricular function as assessed by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography in patients with tetralogy of Fallot: a single center experience from China.

Background: Published correlations between histological abnormalities and right ventricular (RV) function, as evaluated by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), are scarce in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). The purpose of the study is to assess age-associated differences in the effect of RV myocardial remodeling on ventricular function in patients with TOF.

Methods: Operatively resected crista supraventricularis muscle from 30 patients (median age 12months) undergoing intracardiac repair of TOF were studied by light microscopy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: genotype-positive, phenotype-"almost" negative. Diagnostic role of exercise in provocation of left ventricular outflow tract gradient.

It has been proposed to use exercise stress echocardiography in the upright position with left ventricular outflow tract gradient monitoring both during and after exercise as a marker of genotype-positive/phenotype negative hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Doppler measurement of gradient has been a very helpful and diagnostic examination in several subgroups of subjects (especially in young persons, athletes). Recently, many noninvasive (bio)markers have been found to be very helpful in screening patients suspected of HCM before full expression of phenotype.

Coronary artery fistula: comparison of diagnostic accuracy by echocardiography versus coronary arteriography and surgery in 63 patients studied between 2002 and 2012 in a single medical center in China.

Background: Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare congenital anomaly, which is conventionally diagnosed by coronary arteriography; however, the relation of the coronary artery fistulas to other structures, their origin and course may not be always apparent.

Methods: The echocardiograms of 63 patients with coronary artery fistulas, who had undergone coronary arteriography and/or surgery from June 2002 to December 2012 at the Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, were analyzed retrospectively, and the results were compared with findings by coronary arteriography and at surgery.

Results: Right CAFs were detected in 33 of the 63 patients (52.

Need for a standardized protocol for stress echocardiography in provoking subaortic and valvular gradient in various cardiac conditions.

(Semi) supine exercise testing has an established role in the evaluation of patients with valvular heart disease and can help clinical decision making. Stress echocardiography has the advantages of its wide availability, low cost, and versatility for the assessment of disease severity. However, exercise-induced changes in valve hemodynamics, left ventricular outflow obstruction and pulmonary artery pressure depended on load variation.

Left ventricular noncompaction associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: echocardiographic diagnosis and genetic analysis of a new pedigree in China.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) are both genetically determined and familial diseases that possess variable but overlapping genetic defects. Previous literature has mostly reported their occurrences as either separate disorders in different members of a family or coexisting entities in sporadic cases rather than familial cases. This study explored the echocardiographic diagnostic values and familial features in a family with coexistence of HCM and LVNC.

Echocardiographic diagnosis of sinus of Valsalva aneurysm: a 17-year (1995-2012) experience of 212 surgically treated patients from one single medical center in China.

Objective: To evaluate the value of echocardiography in the diagnosis of different pathological patterns of sinus of Valsalva aneurysms (SVAs).

Methods: Echocardiographic features and surgical findings of 212 consecutive patients with SVAs treated in the last 17 years (1995-2012) at the Union Hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology were compared and analyzed retrospectively.

Results: 212 Chinese patients with SVAs underwent surgical repairs from January 1995 to May 2012 in our hospital.