• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.185-196
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Two-dimensional (2D) strain provides more predictive power than ejection fraction (EF) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). 3D strain and EF are also expected to have better clinical usefulness and overcome several inherent limitations of 2D strain. We aimed to clarify the prognostic significance of 3D strain analysis in patients with STEMI. METHODS: Patients who underwent successful revascularization for STEMI were retrospectively recruited. In addition to conventional parameters, 3D EF, global longitudinal strain (GLS), global area strain (GAS), as well as 2D GLS were obtained. We constructed a composite outcome consisting of all-cause death or re-hospitalization for acute heart failure or ventricular arrhythmia. RESULTS: Of 632 STEMI patients, 545 patients (86.2%) had a reliable 3D strain analysis. During median follow-up of 49.5 months, 55 (10.1%) patients experienced the adverse outcome. Left ventricle EF, 2D GLS, 3D EF, 3D GLS, and 3D GAS were significantly associated with poor outcomes. (all, p < 0.001) The maximum likelihood-ratio test was performed to evaluate the additional prognostic value of 2D GLS or 3D GLS over the prognostic model consisting of clinical characteristics and EF, and the likelihood ratio was 15.9 for 2D GLS (p < 0.001) and 1.49 for 3D GLS (p = 0.22). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive power of 3D strain was slightly lower than the 2D strain. Although we can obtain 3D strains, volume, and EF simultaneously in same cycle, the clinical implications of 3D strains in STEMI need to be investigated further.

• 한국정보과학회논문지:소프트웨어및응용
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• 제36권10호
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• pp.825-835
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• 2009

의학기술이 발전하면서 결핵, 폐렴, 영양실조, A형간염 등의 질병에 의한 사망률은 감소하는 반면, 심장 질환으로 인한 사망률은 증가하는 추세이다. 심장병을 예방하기 위하여 정기적인 검사가 중요하고, 인체에 무해한 자기공명영상을 활용하여 심장의 혈류량과 심박구출률을 계산하여 심장의 기능을 분석할 필요가 있다. 본 논문에서는 기존의 노동집약적이고 시간적 비용이 큰 수동윤곽분할을 대체하기 위한 자동 좌심실 분할 알고리즘을 제안하였다. 방사형 임계치 결정법을 통하여 심실을 분할하고 혈류량 및 심박구출률을 계산하였으며, 특히 기존 방법들에서 문제가 되었던 기저 영상도 사용자 간섭률을 최소화하여 자동분할을 수행하였다. 제안 알고리즘의 검증을 위하여 36명의 심장 자기공명영상 데이터를 사용하여 전문가에 의한 수동윤곽분할 및 제너럴일렉트로닉스 MASS 소프트웨어와 정량적 비교를 수행하였다. 실험을 통해 제안한 방법이 표준으로 간주되는 수동윤곽분할과 정확도가 유사하며, MASS 소프트웨어보다 높은 정확도를 갖고 있음을 알 수 있었다.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.20-27
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• 2017

Purpose: To evaluate quantification results of single breath-hold (SBH) magnetic resonance (MR) cine imaging compared to results of conventional multiple breath-hold (MBH) technique for left ventricular (LV) function in patients with cardiac arrhythmia. Materials and Methods: MR images of patients with arrhythmia who underwent MBH and SBH cine imaging at the same time on a 1.5T MR scanner were retrospectively reviewed. Both SBH and MBH cine imaging were performed with balanced steady state free precession. SBH scans were acquired using temporal parallel acquisition technique (TPAT). Fifty patients ($65.4{\pm}12.3years$, 72% men) were included. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), myocardial mass, and LV regional wall motion were evaluated. Results: EF, myocardial mass, and regional wall motion were not significantly different between SBH and MBH acquisition techniques (all P-values > 0.05). EDV, ESV, and SV were significant difference between the two techniques. These parameters for SBH cine imaging with TPAT tended to lower than those in MBH. EF and myocardial mass of SBH cine imaging with TPAT showed good correlation with values of MBH cine imaging in Passing-Bablok regression charts and Bland-Altman plots. However, SBH imaging required significantly shorter acquisition time than MBH cine imaging ($15{\pm}7sec$ vs. $293{\pm}104sec$, P < 0.001). Conclusion: SBH cine imaging with TPAT permits shorter acquisition time with assessment results of global and regional LV function comparable to those with MBH cine imaging in patients with arrhythmia.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제49권5호
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• pp.350-355
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• 2016

Background: Mitral stenosis (MS) remains one of the important heart diseases. There are many factors that influence the clinical outcomes, and little is known about how left ventricular (LV) dysfunction clinically affects the prognosis of the patient with MS after mitral valve replacement (MVR). We reviewed our clinical experiences of MVR in patients with MS who had LV dysfunction. Methods: Between January 1991 and January 2013, 110 patients with MS who underwent MVR were analyzed and divided into two groups according to ejection fraction (EF). Group 1 ($EF{\leq}45%$) included 13 patients and group 2 (EF>45%) included 97 patients. Results: Thromboembolism occurred in 8 patients after MVR (group 1: n=3, 23.1%; group 2: n=5, 5.2%) and its incidence was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (p=0.014). There were 3 deaths each in groups 1 and 2 during follow-up. The overall rate of cardiac-related death in group 1 was significantly higher than in group 2 (group 1: n=3, 23.1%; group 2: n=3, 3.1%; p=0.007). The cumulative survival rate at 1 and 15 years was 83.9% and 69.9% in group 1 and 97.9% and 96.3% in group 2 (p=0.004). The Cox regression analysis revealed that survival was significantly associated with postoperative stroke (p=0.011, odds ratio=10.304). Conclusion: This study identified postoperative stroke as an adverse prognostic factor in patients with MS after MVR, and a s more prevalent in patients with LV dysfunction. Postoperative stroke should be reduced to improve clinical outcomes for patients. Preventive care should be made in multiple ways, such as management of LV dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and anticoagulation.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.114-124
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• 2019

Purpose: We investigate biases in the assessments of left ventricular function (LVF), by compressed sensing (CS)-cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods: Cardiovascular cine images with short axis view, were obtained for 8 volunteers without CS. LVFs were assessed with subsampled data, with compression factors (CF) of 2, 3, 4, and 8. A semi-automatic segmentation program was used, for the assessment. The assessments by 3 CS methods (ITSC, FOCUSS, and view sharing (VS)), were compared to those without CS. Bland-Altman analysis and paired t-test were used, for comparison. In addition, real-time CS-cine imaging was also performed, with CF of 2, 3, 4, and 8 for the same volunteers. Assessments of LVF were similarly made, for CS data. A fixed compensation technique is suggested, to reduce the bias. Results: The assessment of LVF by CS-cine, includes bias and random noise. Bias appeared much larger than random noise. Median of end-diastolic volume (EDV) with CS-cine (ITSC or FOCUSS) appeared -1.4% to -7.1% smaller, compared to that of standard cine, depending on CF from (2 to 8). End-systolic volume (ESV) appeared +1.6% to +14.3% larger, stroke volume (SV), -2.4% to -16.4% smaller, and ejection fraction (EF), -1.1% to -9.2% smaller, with P < 0.05. Bias was reduced from -5.6% to -1.8% for EF, by compensation applied to real-time CS-cine (CF = 8). Conclusion: Loss of temporal resolution by adopting missing data from nearby cardiac frames, causes an underestimation for EDV, and an overestimation for ESV, resulting in underestimations for SV and EF. The bias is not random. Thus it should be removed or reduced for better diagnosis. A fixed compensation is suggested, to reduce bias in the assessment of LVF.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제57권3호
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• pp.255-262
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• 2024

Background: Sutureless aortic valves may enable shorter procedure times, which benefits patients with elevated surgical risk. We describe the outcomes of patients with aortic stenosis who underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) using the sutureless Perceval aortic bioprosthesis. Methods: Data from a retrospective cohort were obtained from a clinical database. The study enrolled patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who underwent surgical AVR with a sutureless bioprosthesis between August 2015 and December 2020. In total, 113 patients were included (mean age, 75.3±8.4 years; 57.5% women; median Society of Thoracic Surgeons score, 9.7%; mean follow-up period, 51.19±20.6 months). Of these patients, 41 were octogenarians (36.2%) and 3 were nonagenarians (2.6%). Transthoracic echocardiography was employed to assess changes in ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and mean pressure gradient (MPG). Results: The in-hospital mortality rate was 2.6%, and 13 patients developed new-onset atrial fibrillation. A permanent pacemaker was implanted in 3 patients (2.6%). The median intensive care unit stay was 1 day (interquartile range [IQR], 1-2 days), and the median hospital stay was 12 days (IQR, 9.5-15 days). The overall survival rate at 5 years was 95.9%. LVMI and MPG were reduced postoperatively, while EF increased over the follow-up period. No structural valve deterioration was observed, and no meaningful paravalvular leakage developed during follow-up. Conclusion: The use of a sutureless valve in the aortic position is safe and feasible, even for high-risk elderly patients requiring surgical AVR. LVMI and MPG decreased postoperatively, while EF increased over the follow-up period.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.279-289
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: In many cardiovascular disorders, the contractile performance of the right ventricle (RV) is the primary determinant of prognosis. For evaluating RV volumes and function, 4 dimensional (4D)-echocardiography has become common. This research used 2D and 4D modalities to assess RV contractile performance in hypertensive patients. METHODS: A total of 150 patients with essential hypertension were enrolled in this study, along with 75 age and sex-matched volunteers. Clinical evaluation and echocardiographic examination (including M-mode, tissue Doppler imaging, and 2D speckle tracking) were conducted on all participants. RV volumes, 4D-ejection fraction (EF), 4D-fractional area change (FAC), 4D-tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), 4D-septal and free wall (FW) strain were all measured using 4D-echocardiography. RESULTS: Hypertensive patients showed 2D-RV systolic and diastolic dysfunction (including TAPSE, 2D-right ventricular global longitudinal strain, RV-myocardial performance index and average E/EaRV) and 4D-RV impairment (including right ventricular EF, FAC, RV strain and TAPSE, right ventricular end-diastolic volume and right ventricular end-systolic volume) compared to the control group. We verified the prevalence of RV systolic dysfunction in hypertension patients using the following parameters: 1) 15% of them had 2D-TAPSE < 17 mm vs. 40% by 4D-TAPSE; 2) 25% of them had 2D-GLS < 19% vs. 42% by 4D-septal strain and 35% by 4D FW strain; 3) 35% of hypertensive patients had 4D-EF < 45%; and finally; 4) 25% of hypertensive patients had 2D-FAC < 35% compared to 45% by 4D-FAC. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of RV involvement was greater in 4D than in 2D-modality trans-thoracic echocardiography. We speculated that 4D-echocardiography with 4D-strain imaging would be more beneficial for examining RV morphology and function in hypertensive patients than 2D-echocardiography, since 4D-echocardiography could estimate RV volumes and function without making geometric assumptions.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.307-319
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines indicate electrical dyssynchrony as the major criteria for selecting patients for cardiac resynchronization therapy, and 25-35% of patients exhibit unfavorable responses to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We aimed to evaluate different cardiac mechanical dyssynchrony parameters in heart failure patients using current echo-Doppler modalities and we analyzed their association with electrical dyssynchrony. METHODS: The study included 120 heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) who underwent assessments for left ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony (LVMD) and interventricular mechanical dyssynchrony (IVMD). RESULTS: Patients were classified according to QRS duration: group I with QRS < 120 ms, group II with QRS 120-149 ms, and group III with QRS ≥ 150 ms. Group III had significantly higher IVMD, LVMD indices, TS-SD speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) 12 segments (standard deviation of time to peak longitudinal strain speckle tracking echocardiography in 12 LV-segments), and LVMD score compared with group I and group II. Group II and group III were classified according to QRS morphology into left bundle branch block (LBBB) and non-LBBB subgroups. LVMD score, TS-SD 12 TDI, and TS-SD 12 STE had good correlations with QRS duration. CONCLUSIONS: HFrEF patients with wide QRS duration (> 150 ms) had more evident LVMD compared with patients with narrow or intermediate QRS. Those patients with intermediate QRS duration (120-150 ms) had substantial LVMD assessed by both TDI and 2D STE, regardless of QRS morphology. Subsequently, we suggest that LVMD indices might be employed as additive criteria to predict CRT response in that patient subgroup. Electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony were strongly correlated in HFrEF patients.

• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제36권6호
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• pp.381-391
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• 2002

목적: 심질환의 예후 인자로 알려진 좌심근 질량 및 좌심실 구혈률을 구할 수 있는 게이트 심근관류 스펙트는 관류결손에 의해 영향을 받을 수 있다. 또한 관류결손을 일으키는 심혈관질환은 안정시와 부하후 좌심실 기능에 영향을 줄 수 있다. 본 연구는 심근관류 스펙트상 관류결손을 가진 환자를 대상으로하여, 첫째 관류 결손의 크기와 가역성 여부에 따른 안정시와 부하 후 게이트 심근관류 스펙트로 구한 좌심근 질량의 차이를 알아 보았으며, 둘째, 관류결손의 가역성 여부에 따른 안정시와 부하 후 게이트 심근관류 스펙트로 얻은 좌심실 용적과 좌심실 구혈률의 상관성 및 차이를 비교해 보았다. 대상 및 방법: 심근관류스펙트상관류 결손이 있는환자 46명을 대상으로 하였다. 대상 환자 가운데 남자가 34명(73.9%)이었고 평균연령은 $64{\pm}9$세였으며, 40명(87.0%)은 가역성 관류결손이었다. 게이트 심근관류 스펙트는 740MBq의 Tc-99m MIBI를 투여한 후 이중헤드 감마카메라(Vertex Plus, ADAC,USA)를 이용하여 영상자료를 얻었다. 좌심근 질량, 이완기말/수축기말 좌심실 용적 및 좌심실 구혈률은 AutoQUANT 프로그램을 이용하여 구하였다. 결과: 안정시와 부하 후 게이트 심근관류 스펙트로 구한 좌심근 질량은 뛰어난 상관성을 나타내었다. 가역적 관류결손 환자보다 고정 관류결손 환자가, 관류 결손의 크기가 20%미만인 환자가 관류 결손크기가 20% 이상인 환자보다 두 값 사이에 더 높은 상관성이 있었다. 고정 관류결손을 가진 환자는 안정시와 부하 후 게이트 심근관류 스펙트에서 얻은 좌심실 이완기말 용적, 좌심실 수축기말 용적, 좌심실 구혈률에 차이가 없었으나, 가역적 관류결손을 가진 환자에서는 안정시와 부하후 게이트 심근관류 스펙트에서 얻은 좌심실 구혈률에 유의한 차이가 있었다. 가역적 관류결손 환자 40명 가운데 10명(25%)에서는 부하후 게이트 심근관류 스펙트에서 구한 좌심실 구혈률이 안정시에 구한 좌심실 구혈률보다 5%이상 낮았다. 고정관류 결손환자는 가역적 관류 결손환자에 비해 안정시와 부하 후 좌심실 용적과 구혈률에 더 높은 상관성을 나타내었다. 결론: 관류결손은 게이트 심근관류 스펙트를 이용한 좌심근 질량측정에 영향을 미칠 수 있으며, 고정 관류 결손을 가진 환자 보다 가역적 관류 결손을 가진 환자에서 심근부하 후 좌심실 구혈률 감소가 더 빈번하게 발생됨을 알 수 있었다.

• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.175-182
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• 1987

For measurement of ventricular performance, ejection fraction (EF) has gained wide acceptance. But EF is influenced not only by changes in muscle function but also by changes in cardiac loading conditions. In case of valvular heart disease which is variable in loading conditions, EF cannot be reliable as an index of myocardial contractility. The end systolic pressure (ESP)-end systolic volume (ESV) relation, howver, is known to represent myocardial contractility, independent of changes in loading conditions. Similar results can be obtained by using peak-systolic pressure (PSP) instead of ESP. To evaluate the utility of the peak systolic pressure-end systolic volume index (PSP-ESVI) relation as an index of myocardial function, we measured $PSP&ESVI$ in 19 partents with coronary artery disease before $(PSP_1\;&\;ESVI_1)$ and after $(PSP_2\;&\;ESVI_2)$ sublingual administration of nitroglycerin. PSP was measured with standard mercury sphygmomanometer during gated blood pool scintigraphic study. ESVI was measured by count derived method after attenuation correction. $PSP_2\;&\;ESVI_2$ measurement was started when the fall of PSP was greater than 5 mmHg after 7-14 minutes post-administration of nitroglycerin. Mean values $({\pm}S.D.)$ of $PSP_1\;&\;ESVI_1$ was $124.9({\pm}20.7)mmHg\;&\;59.4({\pm}39.9)ml/M^2$. Mean values $({\pm}S.D)$ of $PSP_2\;&\;ESVI_2$, was $113.2({\pm}19.9)mmHg\;&\;37.5({\pm}26.1)ml/M^2$. There was a significant difference between mean values of $PSP_1\;&\;PSP_2$, (p<0.01), and mean values of $ESVI_1\;&\;ESVI_2$, (p<0.01). $PSP_1-PSP_2/ESV_1-ESVI_2,\;PSP_1/ESVI_1$ and EF were in the range of 0.14-5.19 mmHg/ml/$M^2$, 0.67-7.68 mmHg/ml/$M^2$ and 10.8%-74.5% respectively. $PSP_1-PSP_2/ESVI_1-ESVI_2$, and EF showed exponential correlation (r=0.85, P<0.01). The correlation coefficient between $PSP_1/ESVI_1$ and EF was 0.73(p<0.01). With the above results, we suggest that $PSP_1-PSP_2/ESVI_1-ESVI_2$, and $PSP_1/ESVI_1$, can be used as an index of myocardial function.