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Purpose: Those hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have recently been shown to have impaired right ventricular (RV) strain, but data about the course of heart function after discharge are limited. Our aim was to compare right ventricular strain and right atrial reservoir strain (RASr) associated with COVID-19 between acute disease (during hospitalisation) and follow-up (after discharge). Methods: In this retrospective single-center study, we analysed the echocardiograms of 43 patients hospitalised for non-severe COVID-19 between December 2020 and March 2021, undergoing echocardiography both during and after hospitalisation. In addition to conventional echocardiographic parameters, we applied 2-dimensional speckle tracking to obtain RV global longitudinal strain (RV-GLS), RV free wall strain (RV-FWS), and RASr. Results: Mean (standard deviation) age of the study population was 50 (9) years, and 18 (42%) of the participants were women. Median duration between exams was 6 months (range, 5-7 months). Both mean RV-GLS and mean RV-FWS significantly increased at follow-up (-20.8 [3.8] vs. -23.5 [2.8], p < 0.001 and -23.3 [4.2] vs. -28.2 [2.8], p < 0.001; respectively), and RASr significantly improved as well (-32.3 [6.6] vs. -41.9 [9.8], p < 0.001). Conclusion: In patients hospitalised for non-severe COVID-19 pneumonia, RV-GLS, RV-FWS, and RASr improved significantly between acute disease and 6 months after discharge. 35670268

Background The goal of this study was to determine changes in left atrial (LA) function with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) and real-time full-volume three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) after percutaneous mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system. Furthermore, we investigated whether baseline and/or changes in LA function after MitraClip repair had any impact on prognosis. Methods A total of 25 consecutive patients (age: 57±12 years, 76% male) with moderate-to-severe or severe mitral regurgitation (MR) were included. Patients underwent 2DSTE and RT3DE before the clip implantation and after the 12-month follow-up. Prognostic data were also recorded via the use of telephone calls and follow-up visits for 12 months after the procedure. Results Compared with the baseline, the LA reservoir strain (LA-Res) (7.66±4.3% vs 11.15±7.5%, P

OBJECTIVE Despite many potential benefits, thiazolidinedione (TZD) use has been associated with increased exacerbation rate of heart failure due to fluid retention. In our study, the effect of rosiglitazone and pioglitazone on myocardial function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and normal left ventricular systolic function was evaluated by both conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). METHODS Forty patients who were diagnosed type 2 DM according to the American Diabetes Association criteria were included in the study. After baseline evaluation, all patients were randomly assigned to receive either rosiglitazone 4 mg twice daily or pioglitazone 30 mg daily for 4 months. Blood samples were taken and detailed pulsed-wave and tissue Doppler echocardiographic examination was performed at baseline and 4 months after TZD therapy. RESULTS Left ventricular systolic velocity (Sm) values were found to be significantly increased in the rosiglitazone group (+2.6 + or - 0.7 cm/sec, P < 0.0001), while they remained unchanged in the pioglitazone group. Left ventricular early diastolic velocity (Em) increased at the same extent in both groups after treatment (rosioglitazone: +0.7 + or - 0.7 cm/sec; pioglitazone: +0.5 + or - 0.4 cm/sec, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION In conclusion, while rosiglitazone and pioglitazone therapy improved metabolic parameters, blood pressure values and diastolic function similarly, in type 2 diabetic patients, only rosiglitazone improved systolic myocardial function significantly. (Echocardiography 2010;27:512-518).

Objective: Few data exist regarding the prognostic value of QT dispersion in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In this study, we prospectively investigated the association between baseline QT dispersion and clinical course of HCM. Methods: Overall, 101 patients with asymmetric septal hypertrophy (59 men, mean age 45±16 years, range 13-74 years) were included in the study and were followed up for 595±367 days for clinical endpoints defined as cardiac death and hospitalization due to worsening in heart failure symptoms. QRS duration, QT interval, and JT interval were manually measured on 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion were calculated accordingly. The ECG findings of the patients with and without clinical endpoints were compared. Results: Twenty-nine patients experienced clinical endpoints (3 sudden deaths, 26 hospitalizations due to worsening heart failure). The measurements of QT, JT and QRS intervals were all comparable between the two groups (p>0.05 for all). QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion were significantly different between patients with and without clinical endpoints (64±30 ms vs. 83±18 ms and 71±33 ms vs. 90±18 ms, respectively, p=0.001 for both). Corrected QT dispersion >80 ms detected patients with clinical endpoints with sensitivity and specificity of 79% and 75%, respectively. Patients with corrected QT dispersion