A recently reported cardiac syndrome of transient left ventricular dysfunction, clinically resembles acute myocardial infarction and presents with chest pain, ECG changes and minimal elevation of cardiac enzymes in absence of myocardial ischemia or injury. The clinical presentation includes a wide range of symptoms and left ventricular function is normalized completely within days to weeks. This syndrome is likely a non-ischemic, metabolic-dependent syndrome caused by stress-induced activation of the cardiac adrenoreceptors. We report three cases of stress-induced transient LV dysfuction.
Cardiomyopathies* ; Chest Pain ; Electrocardiography ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; Ventricular Function, Left

Atrial aneurysms involving the free wall or atrial appendage are very rare intracardiac anomalies, less than 100 case reported worldwide. It is usually detected by chance and also could be associated with atrial arrhythmias or systemic embolism. Transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac MRI is the standard diagnostic modality. Aneurysmectomy is usually recommended especially in symptomatic cases. We review the literature and report a case of atrial appendiceal aneurysm, a 23 year-old young man whose diagnosis was established with transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac CT angiography.
Aneurysm* ; Angiography ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Appendage* ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Embolism ; Heart Aneurysm ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Cardiac involvement in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is common, but usually latent without symptoms or signs in the initial period of disease. This study investigated the incidence and predictor of cardiac involvement in DMD patients. METHOD: From January 2000 to June 2005, we enrolled 45 patients with DMD (aged 20.2+/-3.0 years) who admitted to the Yongdong Severance Hospital. Electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography was done to evaluate the cardiac function. RESULT: Electrocardiographic abnormalities were present in 80.1% of patients. Sinus tachycardia was most common (50%). LVEF was decreased (46.7+/-13.8%), and 56% of the patients had diastolic dysfunction. Patients with pulmonary involvement were older (20.7+/-3.8 vs 17.6+/-2.8 years, p=0.028), and patients with reduced LVEF (<50%) had longer duration of disease (11.4+/-4.4 vs 14.3+/-2.4 years, p=0.04). However, on multivariate analysis, age, duration of disease, pulmonary involvement, dyspnea symptom, electrocardiographic abnormality was not an independent predictor for LV systolic dysfunction in adolescent and adult patients with DMD. CONCLUSION: Cardiac involvement in adolescent and adult patients with DMD was frequently observed independent of age, duration of disease, pulmonary involvement, and dyspnea symptom. Therefore, more active cardiac investigation is required in patients with DMD, even without clinical suspicion.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung Diseases ; Multivariate Analysis ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne* ; Tachycardia, Sinus

Stroke, a sudden development of a focal neurologic deficit, remains as a frequent leading cause of death even in Korea. Five to 13% of strokes occur in patients with younger than 45 years of age; up to 40% of strokes occur in patients without occlusive cerebrovascular disease; and it is estimated that the source is cardiac origin in 15 to 20%. Another 30n to 40% are in the category of stroke of undetermined cause, also known as cryptogenic stroke. An increasing number of echocardiographic findings have been found in this group of cryptogenic stroke patients and in patients with embolic stroke. Cardiac tumors can be a source of emboli, but the most commonly implicated sources are thrombi from the left atrial appeadage or left ventricle, left atrial spontaneous contrast, atrial septal aneurysm associated with a patent foramen ovale (PFO), thrombi traversing a PFO, valve vegetations, protruding aortic atheroma of aortic arch, and emboli associated with mitral and aortic prostheses. Echocardiography is most helpful in defining the cause of cerebrovascular ischemia in patients without occlusive cerebrovascular disease. For complete evaluation of potential source of cardiac embolic sources, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is required because many of the entities such as left atrial appendage thrombus can be detected only with this technique.
Aneurysm ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Atrial Appendage ; Cause of Death ; Echocardiography* ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Foramen Ovale, Patent ; Heart Neoplasms ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Korea ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; Prostheses and Implants ; Stroke* ; Thrombosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Stress induced cardiomyopathy has been reported as reversible left ventricular dysfunction with electrocardiographic changes. Although the exact mechanism of this dysfunction has not been clarified, catecholamine "surge" is suspected as a potential cause of this disease. It has not been undergone the studies about the effect of chronic or recurrent psychological stress on the myocardium. We suspect that reversible ischemic change of myocardium could be induced by chronic or recurrent emotional stress. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The clinical, echocardiographic and angiographic data of 189 patients (72 women) who presented with ischemic symptoms and eletrocardiographic changes were participated. BAI (Beck anxiety inventory) and BDI (Beck Depression inventory) were obtained and analyzed for evaluation of degree of psychological stress. RESULTS: 54 patients who had left ventricular apical wall motion abnormalities without significant angiographical stenosis in the coronary artery were younger than the others with left ventricular wall motion abnormalities and angiographic stenosis. And they increased the BAI and BDI as tools of evaluation of psychological stress (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Data of this study suggested that psychological stress can be associated with myocardial dysfunction. It can be postulated that psychological stress should be considered as one of the cause of non-coronary myocardial injury.
Anxiety ; Cardiomyopathies ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Vessels ; Depression ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Ventricles* ; Humans ; Myocardium ; Stress, Psychological ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left

OBJECTS: Atherosclerosis is closely related with the coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral arterial disease. Recently, It was revealed that a common cause of death in Korea is cardiovascular disease, like a western country. So the early detection of atherosclerosis and prevention of atherosclerosis is very important aspect. There are several methods to evaluate the early atherosclerosis. Among them, flow mediated vasodilation of brachial artery and intima-media thickness of carotid artery are commonly used surrogate marker of early atherosclesrosis. The aim of this article is to review published papers how we can apply these methods to assess the early atherosclerosis. METHOD AND RESULT: In medline search, seventy four articles were selected to review the method and clinical application of these two methods. Most of these papers were from peer reviewed journals. CONCLUSION: Flow-mediated vasodilation and the measurement of intima-media thickness of carotid artery were very useful and important methods to detect early atherosclerosis. and also to evaluate the clinical efficacy of various kinds of intervention to assess the vascular function and structure.
Atherosclerosis* ; Biomarkers ; Brachial Artery ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Carotid Arteries ; Cause of Death ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Korea ; Peer Review ; Peripheral Arterial Disease ; Ultrasonography* ; Vasodilation

The cardiomyopathies constitute a group of diseases in which the dominant feature is direct involvement of the heart muscle itself. They are distinctive because they are not the result of pericardial, hypertensive, congenital, valvular, or ischemic diseases. Although the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy requires the exclusion of these etiological factors, the features of cardiomyopathy are often sufficiently distinctive-both clinically and hemodynamically-to allow a definitive diagnosis to be made. With increasing awareness of this condition, along with improvements in diagnostic techniques, cardiomyopathy is being recognized as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Whether the result of improved recognition or of other factors, the incidence and prevalence of cardiomyopathy appear to be increasing. A variety of schemes have been proposed for classifying the cardiomyopathies. The most widely recognized classification is that promulgated jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society and Federation of Cardiology (ISFC). In the WHO/ISFC classification, the cardiomyopathies are classified based on their predominant pathophysiological features; other diseases that affect the myocardium that are associated with a specific cardiac disorder or are part of a generalized systemic disorder are termed specific cardiomyopathies. Three basic types of functional impairment have been described: 1) dilated (DCM, formerly called congestive), the most common form, accounting for 60 percent of all cardiomyopathies and characterized by ventricular dilatation, contractile dysfunction, and often symptoms of congestive heart failure; 2) hypertrophic (HCM), recognized by inappropriate left ventricular hypertrophy, often with asymmetrical involvement of the interventricular septum, with preserved or enhanced contractile function until late in the course; and 3) restrictive (RCM), the least common form in western countries, marked by impaired diastolic filling and in some cases with endocardial scarring of the ventricle. Two other forms of cardiomyopathy are recognized: arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and unclassified; the latter includes fibroelastosis, systolic dysfunction with minimal dilatation, and mitochondrial involvement. The distinction between the three major functional categories is not absolute, and often there is overlap; in particular, patients with HCM also have increased wall stiffness as a consequence of the myocardial hypertrophy and thus present some of the features of an RCM. Late in their course, ventricular dilation and systolic heart failure, bearing some resemblance to DCM, may occur. The aim of this review is to introduce the unusual forms of cardiomyopathy with the current literatures in this field.
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia ; Cardiology ; Cardiomyopathies* ; Cicatrix ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Heart Failure ; Heart Failure, Systolic ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Incidence ; Mortality ; Myocardium ; Prevalence ; World Health Organization

Rupture of the interventricular septum is a serious complication of acute myocardial infarction, accounting for 5% of death due to acute myocardial infarction. The mortality with medical therapy alone exceeds 90%. Accurate diagnosis, urgent management, and early operative correction are necessary for survival. We report cases of 3 patients with ventricular septal rupture after acute myocardial infarction.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Rupture ; Ventricular Septal Rupture*

Double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV) is a congenital cardiac anomaly in which the right ventricle is divided into two chambers by anomalous hypertrophied muscle bundles that cross the right ventricular cavity. DCRV may be associated with other congenital cardiac anomalies, most commonly with ventricular septal defect. We report two cases of DCRV without other congenital cardiac anomalies with review of literatures. We performed echocardiography, cardiac catheterization and right ventricular angiogram to confirm the diagnosis.
Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Heart Ventricles*

Myocardial calcification is usually classified as either dystrophic or metastatic. Dystrophic calcification is more common and usually occurs in the area of prior myocardial infarction. It is found in 8% of patients who have been survived longer than 6 years after myocardial infarction. The most common site of calcification is in the anterior wall of the left ventricle or apical and anterolateral aspect in the aneurysm of the left ventricle. We report the case of a 50-years old man with a typical dystrophic calcification of the endocardium in area of myocardial necrosis.
Aneurysm ; Calcinosis ; Echocardiography ; Endocardium ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Necrosis