Abstract Circulatory shock is characterized by a state of inefficient tissue oxygen supply and multiple organ dysfunction. Patients with circulatory shock require fast and assertive diagnosis and therapies to reduce its high lethality. Echocardiography has already been established as a fundamental method in managing patients with circulatory shock. It provides crucial assistance in etiological diagnosis, prognosis, hemodynamic monitoring, and volume estimation in these patients; its potential advantages include portability, absence of contrast or radiation, low cost, and real-time serial assessment. […]

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common genetic heart disease, has an estimated prevalence in the general population of 1:500–1:200. The diagnosis is based on the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) that is not fully explained by loading conditions, and HCM occurs in the absence of other cardiac, systemic, or metabolic disease or in the context of a multiorgan syndrome associated with LVH. Despite being considered a genetic disease, the initial diagnosis of HCM does not require genetic testing. The […]

Abstract Background Myocardial infarction is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and 13.2% of patients with acute coronary syndrome have normal or unobstructed coronary arteries, called MINOCA (Myocardial Infarction with Non-Obstructive Coronary Artery). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard for investigating the etiology of acute coronary syndrome. Although MINOCA has a more benign evolution than myocardial infarction due to coronary obstruction, its prognostic factors are not completely elucidated. Objective To evaluate prognosis, predictive factors […]

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Abstract Evaluation of left atrial function is currently an emerging method that may be related to patient prognosis. Classically, the static measures of diameter, area and volume are the most used for this purpose. The technique known as speckle tracking is capable of providing dynamic information of the left atrium throughout the cardiac cycle, as well as detecting abnormalities in left atrial function in subclinical phases, before volumetric increases or diastolic dysfunctions occur. Normality values for speckle tracking are being […]