Abstract: Objective To investigate changes of left ventricularregional systolic function after surgical treatment of left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) by realtime threedimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE). Methods From February 2009 to February 2010, 14 consecutive patients who were diagnosed to have coronary artery diseases with LVA underwent surgical repair and coronary artery bypass grafting (LVA group) in our hospital. All patients of the LVA group were followed up for a mean period of 4 months. Twodimensional echocardiography (2DE) and RT-3DE were performed before operation and during the follow-up. Left ventricular regional ejection fraction (EF) was acquired by Qlab software analysis. At the same time, 12 healthy persons were included as controls (control group). Statistical analyses were carried out to compare left ventricular regional EF between the LVA group (before operation and 4 months after operation) and the control group. Results Contrary to the control group, preoperative regional EF of the LVA group increased from apex to base. In addition to the inferior basal segment, lateralinferior basal segment and anteriorinferior basal segment, regional EF in the remaining 14 segments were significantly lower than that of the control group (P＜0.05). At postoperative followup, regional EF recovered the increase from base to apex, and there was no significant difference between anteriorinferior segment and lateral segment regional EF of the LVA group and those of the control group (P＞0.05), while regional EF of other segments in the LVA group was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). Conclusion RT-3DE is an effective method to assess left ventricular regional systolic function in patients with LVA. After LVA repair and coronary artery bypass grafting, regional systolic function will restore to the normal direction of progressive increase, and some nonaneurysm segments systolic function will go back to normal.
Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) can promote the quality of cardiac surgery and reduce peri-operative complications, and thus has been gradually accepted by cardiac surgeons. Through an esophageal probe, TEE can clearly visualize the internal structure of the heart without interrupting surgical procedure. As a newly developed technology which breaks the limitations tied to the traditional two-dimensional TEE, the realtime threedimensional transesophageal echocardiogram (RT3D-TEE) has the advantages of showing threedimensional structure of the heart and providing full range of anatomical information of the heart. Furthermore, it can precisely analyze the anatomical structure of the abnormal heart valves and provide assessment of the change of heart volume. Relying on its unique imaging property, it can largely facilitate preoperative decision-making and provide realtime intraoperative guidance as well as accurate postoperative evaluation. It has now been successfully applied in various types of cardiac surgical procedures including valve repair surgery, congenital heart defect intervention, cardiac mass removal as well as heart function evaluation. In this article, we will review the applications of RT3D-TEE in cardiac surgery, and try to form a basis for its further clinical application.
ObjectiveTo study the value of transperineal three-dimensional ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). MethodsFifty-two female patients undergoing transperineal three-dimensional ultrasound imaging between December 2011 and May 2013 were chosen for our study. Thirty-two of them with POP were designated into the observation group, and the other 20 patients with common gynecological diseases were regarded as the control group. Both the two groups of patients underwent transperineal three-dimensional ultrasound imaging in their resting state, action state (Valsalva deep inspiration followed by breath holding), and under levator ani muscle shrinking condition. These three kinds of state images clearly showed pelvic floor levator hiatus area and sagittal levator hiatus lengths change in the patients. ResultsPelvic floor was more relaxed in the observation group than that in the control group. The levator hiatus area and sagittal levator hiatus lengths were larger in the observation group than those in the control group, and the differences were significant (P<0.05). ConclusionTransperineal three-dimensional ultrasound imaging can better display pelvic anatomic structure, improve the effectiveness and accuracy of the diagnosis of pelvic organ prolapse, which is worthy of clinical application.
A three-dimensional (3D) transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging system is presented in this paper. The 3D imaging system is used for diagnosing diseases of prostate. The 3D image is reconstructed by a series of two-dimensional image data which is obtained through rectum. It can be a guide to prostate needle biopsies. The system is built by two parts: hardware and software. In the hardware, the mechanical device, stepper motor, control circuit, B Mode TRUS and personal computer (PC) workshop are presented. The software includes the firmware of micro control unit and software of the PC workshop. In order to evaluate the performance of the 3D imaging system, we did experiments with water and agar phantoms, and the results demonstrated the system's ability of 3D imaging with high-precision.
ObjectiveTo evaluate myocardial segmental motion function in left ventricular of patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis by using the technology of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE). MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 14 patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis between October and November 2014 in our hospital as a trial group. There were 4 males and 10 females with a mean age of 50.9±9.0 years ranging from 34 to 64 years. We chose 11 healthy individuals as a control group. There were 7 males and 4 females with a mean age of 49.5±9.7 years ranging from 32 to 67 years. Both the two groups were subjected to myocardial performance evaluation using two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) and real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) to examine the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV), longitudinal strain, circumferential strain, area strain, and lateral strain of each left ventricular myocardial segments. Result RT-3DE detected that the trial group had significantly lower values of LVEF, LVEDV and LVESV than those of the control group (P < 0.05). RT-3DE also revealed that the trial group had a significantly weaker longitudinal strain than the control group (P < 0.05). ConclusionRT-3DE is an accurate technology for assessing myocardial motion and function in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease.
Objective To explore the value of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography in the differential diagnosis of breast masses. Methods A total of 120 patients with breast masses who were treated in our hospital from July 2013 to February 2016 were selected as the research objects retrospectively, including 70 patients of benign tumor (benign group) and 50 patients of malignant tumor (malignant group) that confirmed by surgery and pathology. All patients were given conventional two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography during the diagnosis. Compared the imaging features of benign group and malignant group, and compared the diagnostic value of two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography for breast masses. Results Compared with benign group, the rates of irregular masses, unclear boundary, inhomogeneous echo, lateral shadowing, echo attenuation, and micro calcification in the malignant group were all higher (P<0.05). The three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography scores in malignant group and benign group were significantly different with each other (P<0.05), the score of the malignant group was higher than that of benign group. The 2- and 3-score was common in benign group, but 4- and 5-score was common in malignant group. The diagnostic sensitivity of two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography for breast masses were 97.1% (68/70) and 98.6% (69/70) respectively, and the specificity were 80.0% (40/50) and 96.0% (48/50) respectively, the specificity of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography was significantly higher than that of two-dimensional ultrasound (P<0.05). Conclusion Two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography both have a certain diagnostic value in the differential diagnosis of breast masses, but the three dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound angiography can get more information through assessment of richness of the microvascular in tumor tissue, so as to improve the diagnostic specificity and is worthy of popularization and application.
Objective To analyze the echocardiographic characteristics of above grade 3+ mitral regurgitation (MR) patients by 3D transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) in transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and compare the intervention rate of TEER treatment in patients with different risk stratification. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 91 patients with above grade 3+ MR in Anzhen Hospital between June 2021 and April 2022. There were 45 males and 46 females aged 66.5±15.9 years. According to pathogenesis, the patients were divided into different anatomical groups and risk stratification groups. There were 34 patients in a simple degenerative group (simple DMR group), 28 patietns in a complex disease group (Complex group), 14 patients in a simple ventricular functional reflux group (simple VFMR group), 9 patients in a simple atrial functional reflux group (simple AFMR group), and 6 patients in a mixed functional reflux group (mixed FMR group). All patients were examined with a unified standard of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and 3D-TEE to compare the characteristic three-dimensional structural changes of the mitral valve in each group. According to the three partition strategy of preoperative anatomical evaluation of TEER, the risk stratification was conducted for the enrolled patients, which was divided into three regions from light to heavy: green area, yellow area, and red area. TEER treatment intervention rate of patients with different risk stratification was calculated. Results Ant leaf angle and post leaf angle were negative in the simple DMR and Complex groups, and non-planar angle, prolapse height and prolapse volume were higher than those of the other groups (P=0.000). Ant leaf angle and post leaf angle were positive in the VFMR group and the mixed FMR group. Anterior and posterior (AP) diameter of valve ring (P=0.036), tenting height and tenting volume were higher than those of other groups (P=0.000). AP diameter, tenting height and tenting volume were changed mildly in patients with simple AFMR. MR patients in red and yellow zone achieved a 28.1% TEER intervention rate.Conclusion Standardized TTE and TEE examinations are crucial for the qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of MR in the echo core-lab. 3D-TEE mitral valve parameter can help determine the exact pathogenesis of MR and to improve the interventional rate of challenging MR patients.