Search

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) on the recurrence of stroke and new cardiac arrhythmia using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Holter monitoring. Study design: Patients with PFO had >1 previous stroke or transient ischemic attack documented with MRI in the first event. PFO with right to left shunt was detected by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and transcranial Doppler ultrasound. MRI examinations were performed on patients before and one year after PFO closure was applied. A twenty-four hour Holter monitoring was performed in all patients within 1 month before and 6 months after the procedure. Results: Percutaneous PFO closure was performed on 47 patients (25 female, mean age: 38.7 years) who had cerebral ischemic events detected by MRI. A year after the procedure, TEE showed that there was no residual interatrial right-to-left shunting. After a 14 month follow-up, no new cerebrovascular event and no new lesion on MRI were recorded. The incidence of arrhythmia did not increase significantly after the procedure on Holter monitoring (p=0.917). Conclusion: One-year clinical and MRI follow-up study of patients with cerebral ischemic events and percutaneous closure of PFO showed no recurrent event and no significant complication associated with the procedure. In addition, Holter monitorization demonstrated that the procedure did not increase the incidence of arrhythmias compared with pre-procedural monitoring.

Presence of a cardiac pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a relative contraindication to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Biventricular ICDs are often used in the treatment of advanced heart failure; however, reports on experience with biventricular ICDs are lacking in the literature. In this case report, we describe a pacemaker-dependent patient with a biventricular ICD on whom an MRI of the lumbar spine was performed without having realized the presence of the ICD.

Aim: Comparison of the diagnostic value of ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of rotator cuff and biceps tendon pathologies. Material and methods: Shoulder US an MRI were performed in patients suffering from shoulder pain. The results of the two methods were retrospectively evaluated in a total of 105 cases. Magnetic resonance imaging findins were accepted as a reference. Results: In the biceps tendon, ultrasonography served as a method for correct diagnosis in 7 of the 8 cases with dislocation, in 1 of 3 cases with partial rupture, and i all 4 cases with full thickness rupture. In biceps tendon patholo- gies, the sensitivity nad the specifity of US were respectively 80% and 978%. And for supraspinatus tendon pathologies; 24 of 26 full thickness ruptures (92.3% sensitivity, 98.8% specifity), 30 of 37 partial ruptures (81% sensitivity, 95.6% specifity), 30 of 37 tendnosis' (83.3% sensitivity, 95.6% speifity) were diagnosed correctly with US. Conslusion: As a result, US is a reliable and especially reproducible method for evaluation and diagnosing of patients with shoulder pain. Furthermore, its diagnostic value is low in partial rotator cuff ruptures and in the partial ruptures of the intracapsular biceps tendon [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]