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IMproving PULmonary hypertension Screening by Echocardiography: IMPULSE

New Content ItemRight heart catheterisation is accepted as the gold standard for assessing pulmonary hypertension but it is not practical to perform this as a screening tool and TTE is widely regarded as a good alternative.  However, the existing TTE pulmonary hypertension guidelines lack sensitivity in mild pulmonary hypertension.  In this useful study, Slegg and colleagues have combined additional TTE derived parameters to improve the accuracy of pulmonary hypertension probability assessment.  It is a single centre study but once replicated more widely, the IMPULSE algorithm will undoubtedly become an important tool for the screening of patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension.

Direct Comparison of Echocardiography Speckle Tracking and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking for Quantification of Right Ventricular Strain – a Prospective Intermodality Study in Functional Mitral Regurgitation

New Content ItemThe importance of evaluating right ventricular function as part of a cardiac imaging assessment is now widely accepted.  However, the RV is a complex 3D structure and quantifying function in this chamber is challenging.  RV global longitudinal strain (RV GLS) has emerged as a potentially powerful to assess RV function and can be performed by both CMR and Echo.  In this study by Johannesen and colleagues, RV GLS was evaluated by both techniques in a group of patients with heart failure and mitral regurgitation.  The comparison between CMR and Echo for measuring RV GLS is interesting and the ability of both techniques to provide prognostic information is fascinating. Read the paper to find out more!

Transthoracic echocardiography protocol for TAVI

New Content ItemTranscatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become a widely and very successful procedure throughout the world for treating aortic stenosis (AS). Pre-procedural planning mostly relies on CT and the majority of cases are performed under conscious sedation.  However, transthoracic echo (TTE) plays a pivotal role in establishing the diagnosis of AS, evaluating co-existing valve pathologies and importantly, peri-procedural assessment and follow up of patients following TAVI. In this paper by Savvoulidis et al., the authors have succinctly described a protocol for the use of TTE in TAVI patients which ensures the capture of essential data and images in a speedy and time efficient manner without unnecessary repetition.  The manuscript contains an excellent set of images to highlight the use of TTE in TAVI and the complications which may arise.  In any Echo department who performs studies on patients who may be referred for TAVI, where the procedure is performed or is involved in follow up, this paper is extremely useful reading.

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Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    6.3 - 2-year Impact Factor
    2.9 - 5-year Impact Factor
    1.704 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
    0.875 - SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

    2023 Usage 
    239,502 downloads
    789 Altmetric mentions